Important Note
Tech Narratives was a subscription website, which offered expert commentary on the day's top tech news from Jan Dawson, along with various other features, for $10/month. As of Monday October 16, 2017, it will no longer be updated. An archive of past content will remain available for the time being. I've written more about this change in the post immediately below, and also here.
★ Apple Watch with LTE May Be Coming Later This Year, Says Bloomberg (Aug 4, 2017)
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Facebook Tests Inserting Posts from Local Officials Into Users’ News Feeds (Aug 4, 2017)
Facebook has begun inserting posts from local elected officials into users’ News Feeds in the app as part of a test it’s running, the latest in a set of moves over the past year to increase the visibility of political and election-related content on Facebook. This is one of those things that simultaneously feels like a great idea and fraught with problems. On the one hand, allowing local officials to communicate more effectively with their constituents at a time when news consumption is becoming more polarized, thanks in part to Facebook itself, seems like a great idea. On the other hand, local officials are also candidates in what sometimes seem like permanent election seasons in the US, at least for certain offices, and if Facebook only promotes posts from elected officials without promoting those of their opponents and rivals in elections, that’s an enormous issue. Of the two screenshots in the Recode piece linked below, one feels relatively apolitical while the other is clearly more political in nature, and a user who was shown only that one and not also something from a representative of a different political party would be getting only one perspective in a way that would be almost impossible for others to address without resorting to paid advertising on Facebook. The approach would massively favor incumbents over their challengers, something the US political system already does to a great extent. So although the effort seems like it has worthwhile elements, it feels like the potential for harm is significant, and I would guess that there will be a big backlash from politicians who feel they’ve been discriminated against if this test moves to a widespread rollout.
via Recode
Lyft is Partnering with Healthcare Providers to Give Patients Rides (Aug 4, 2017)
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Google is Developing Snapchat Discover-Like Formats with Publishers (Aug 4, 2017)
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Snapchat’s New Ad Tools and WPP Spend Comments Drive Stock Price Higher (Aug 4, 2017)
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Huawei Smartphone Reportedly Coming to AT&T (Aug 4, 2017)
I’ve had a few items recently about Huawei, including an item earlier this week about global smartphone market share, and you’ll hopefully have sensed that I think it’s a fascinating company to watch. But one of the other consistent themes about Huawei is that it’s been successful in much of the world with one big exception: the US, where the major carriers haven’t sold its phones. Fellow Chinese smartphone maker ZTE has been more successful in getting its phones ranged by US wireless carriers, especially in the prepaid space, but Huawei has been absent. And it’s worth noting that when it comes to the postpaid market that dominates the US, there are really just three big brands: Apple, Samsung, and LG, in that order. Every other vendor has under 5% of the total US smartphone installed base, with Motorola and HTC rounding out the top five. With all that as context, the fact that The Information is reporting Huawei is working with AT&T for a launch, possibly built around its next flagship, is kind of a big deal. Given the flagship focus, this almost certainly means it’s coming to AT&T’s postpaid service, which is arguably an even bigger deal, and follows on from earlier reporting that AT&T was certifying Huawei’s chipset. Between this and the availability of the Motorola Z2 Force on all four major carriers, we’re potentially entering the first real phase of expansion in the US smartphone lineups offered by major carriers in quite some time, following a period of simplification and focus. That’s yet another sign of both maturing smartphone markets and a maturing wireless market in the US, which is going to force carriers to get creative in how they attract and retain customers.
via The Information
Alphabet’s Makani Wind Power Moonshot Unit Struggling (Aug 4, 2017)
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Daily Podcast Episode 28 – August 3, 2017 (Aug 3, 2017)
The daily podcast episode for August 3 is up now on SoundCloud and should be syncing shortly to iTunes, Overcast, and other podcast apps. As usual, the podcast spends about one minute on each of the items covered on the site today, and also points to a few other items in the news today which I didn’t cover but which are nonetheless interesting. You can find today’s episode on SoundCloud and all episodes on iTunes, Overcast, and so on. The additional items covered are below:
Tablet and Wearables Numbers for Q2 Show Rise of Chinese Vendors (Aug 3, 2017)
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Google Has Reportedly Had Informal Talks to Acquire Snap for $30 Billion (Aug 3, 2017)
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Google Play App Store Will Now Take App Quality Into Account For Rankings (Aug 3, 2017)
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GoPro Recovery Continues in Q2, But Still Losing Money, Well Off Past Highs (Aug 3, 2017)
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Uber Knowingly Leased Faulty Cars to Drivers in Singapore (Aug 3, 2017)
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Motorola Z2 Force Reviews Highlight Tradeoffs (Aug 3, 2017)
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Google and Cisco Partner for Hybrid Cloud Environments (Aug 3, 2017)
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Repair Association Hits Apple Hard in Report on Environmental Regulations (Aug 3, 2017)
I saw an article pop up this morning from Mashable about Apple and its repairs policy, and then saw another this afternoon from the Verge (linked below) on the same topic, which made me wonder why, and it turns out that the answer is a new report from the Repair Association. The Repair Association is an industry body made up of device repair companies and environmental and other organizations, and as such has a clear point of view on device repairs: they’re a good thing, and any limitations on repairability are a bad thing. I had a long Twitter exchange this morning with the author of the Mashable article about this topic, and the thrust from my side of the conversation was that the framing here is all wrong. Yes, Apple does place restrictions on who can repair its devices and how, and it also increasingly designs its devices in ways which make them harder for third parties to repair, but as I’ve said before in the context of iFixit and other repair companies’ reviews of Apple devices, this isn’t done to thwart repair companies or customers, and it isn’t a money grab.
The big shift in Apple’s design over recent years has been increasingly tight integration of components, which has been a key enabler of making devices smaller and more powerful, something that’s been a part of iPhone and iPad design from the start but which has more recently spread to the Mac line as well. This definitely makes repairs harder, and Apple also places restrictions on how screens can be repaired because they’re integrated with the Touch ID sensor that controls device unlocking and Apple Pay among other things, and repairing them without access to special tools stops Touch ID from working. Again, that’s a side effect of Apple’s security-centric design and not a deliberate strategy to frustrate would-be repairers or customers. Apple opposes some of the stricter standards and regulations proposed by states and various bodies because they’re often designed to prioritize repairability over functionality, sometimes in ways which seem directly aimed at the way Apple designs its products. Meanwhile, Apple has made enormous strides in its environmental efforts over the last few years under the leadership of Lisa Jackson, formerly head of the EPA and therefore no slouch when it comes to environmental protection. That’s extended from using sustainable energy to better recycling of parts with Apple’s Liam disassembly machines and so on. Apple is moving in the right direction here, and as the Verge piece at least acknowledges, none of what Apple is doing here is actually environmentally unfriendly, as the Mashable piece suggests.
via The Verge
Tesla’s Q2 Results Mix Strong Growth With Losses, Shed Light on Plans (Aug 3, 2017)
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Daily Podcast Episode 27 – August 2, 2017 (Aug 2, 2017)
The daily podcast episode for August 2 is up now on SoundCloud and should be syncing shortly to iTunes, Overcast, and other podcast apps. As usual, the podcast spends about one minute on each of the items covered on the site today, and also points to a few other items in the news today which I didn’t cover but which are nonetheless interesting. You can find today’s episode on SoundCloud and all episodes on iTunes, Overcast, and so on. The additional items covered are below:
Square Reports Strong Growth and Shrinking Losses in Q2 (Aug 2, 2017)
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Fitbit Reports More Shipment, Revenue Declines, Losses in Q2 (Aug 2, 2017)
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