JUNE 13-14:
Apple’s WWDC, YouTube’s Gaming Service, Alibaba attacking Netflix, and more in today’s Weekend In Tech post.
1 – SQUARE JOINS APPLE
Even small businesses can soon accept Apple Pay and mobile wallet loyalty with Square’s card reader. What was initially only available to large corporations with outfitted POS systems, due to cost, Square wireless readers will soon help Apple Pay become accessible for any potential store front.
Not only will this make it easier for stores to accept Apple Pay in more places, but it should increase mobile payment behavior as a whole – because even the hot dog vendor down the road can install it, cheaply.
Source – AppAdvice
2 – iOS 9 and HomeKit
Apple makes HomeKit smarter and more powerful with new pre-defined “scene” and “trigger” templates that let or provoke certain actions. e.g. if I do this, it does this or if it’s x o’clock, it does y.
The major benefit of these new scene/trigger templates is that a developer won’t need to pre-define loads of rules. They can simply select a template and modify it to fit their desired action in HomeKit.
Specifically, Apple’s new scenes/triggers include “getting up”, “leaving home”, “returning home”, and “going to bed”. How does this help? Well a developer could now use the “going to bed” template with a connected IoT (Internet of Things) light-bulb and speaker system in HomeKit. What could they do? Program your lights to dim as Stevie Wonder’s Superstition starts playing in the background, while you and your lover are “going to bed”.
But rest assured developers who really want to get creative (as if the example we gave wasn’t shocking enough) can still make custom scenes as well – which is great, as hopefully there are a lot more than 4 major “scenes” in your life.
Furthermore, watch OS2 for Apple Watch will also support HomeKit. Which means users can control the different scene/triggers directly from their new Apple wearable. So if the previous example didn’t cut it for you, imagine triggering it all with your Apple Watch.
While there are still only a few HomeKit products on the market, we could be seeing new innovations very soon. Especially with CISCO predicting IoT to have 50 billion devices connected by 2020.
Source – Mashable
3 – YouTube goes gaming
The online media powerhouse has announced a new gaming service (YouTube Gaming) in order to compete with Twitch. YouTube Gaming will be set up much like Twitch, but will focus on simplifying the broadcasting experience. How?
Similar to Periscope, streamers will no longer be required to schedule a live video ahead of time. They can simply start streaming. Plus, a single link will point to a user’s live streams, so they don’t have to share a new link across their social channels every time they post a live “let’s play”.
YouTube Gaming will be available in the U.S and U.K. sometime this summer.
Source – TechCrunch
4 – The Darpa Robot Olympics
We might not know if androids dream of electric sheep, but we can say for certain that they like to compete. Because an impressive twenty-three teams gathered from around the world for the futuristic Darpa robot competition in Pamona, California – and of course for the $3.5 million in prize money. Yes, million.
This year, robots had one hour to complete a course with a total of eight tasks: driving a car down a dirt road, getting out of the car, opening a door and entering a building, turning a valve, cutting a hole in a wall with a drill, completing a surprise task (flipping a switch or unplugging a tube and plugging it into another hole), navigating a pile of rubble, and walking up a short flight of stairs.
While that might sound like more of a task for a toddler than a potential “terminator”, it’s important to note just how much work goes into simple robotics. And we respect every team for taking part. Plus, with the release of Terminator Genisys last week we’re perfectly happy to see just how far off Skynet is from fruition.
Follow the link to check out a recap of the competition and a look into our not so post apocalyptic future.
Source – The Verge
5 – Alibaba to launch Netflix style streaming service
The e-commerce giant is planning on launching a movie streaming service hoping to mimic the success of Netflix and HBO within the next two months. But is this just another Chinese knock-off?
It’s too soon to tell. What we do know is that the service is being called Tmall Box Office (TBO – certainly sounds familiar) and will purchase content from production houses as well as create content in-house. This new announcement could also put a damper on Netflix’s potential plan to launch in China, which means it’s definitely something to stay focused on.
Source – Re/Code
THIS WEEK’S FUN FACT: Apple have Sold 7 million Apple Watches
