Category Archives: AI

Week 97 News Roundup – Essential Phone, Nest Cam IQ, Apple AI Chip and More

This is our News Roundup episode for the week. Our three topics this time around were the Essential Phone and related products and services announced by Android creator Andy Rubin; the Nest Cam IQ announced by Nest; and a set of minor news items regarding Apple, including a report from late last week about a dedicated AI chip, another that manufacturing has begun on Apple’s home speaker; and two press releases from Apple around Swift Playgrounds and $70 billion paid out to developers cumulatively.

As always, you’ll find links to these stories and other things we discussed underneath the SoundCloud player embedded below.

As ever, you can also find the podcast on iTunes, in the Overcast app, or your own favorite podcast app. Here is the RSS feed for the podcast if you want to add it manually to your app of choice.

Show notes:

Here are some useful links relating to this week’s episode:

As ever, we welcome your feedback via Twitter (@jandawson / @aaronmiller), the website (podcast.beyonddevic.es), or email (jan@jackdawresearch.com).

Please leave us a comment or get in touch via Twitter to give us feedback. We’d love to hear from you. You can reach the individual hosts on Twitter (@jandawson@aaronmiller), or via email (jan at jackdawresearch dot com). We also have a dedicated Podcast Twitter handle at @BDPcast. And we’d love it if you would leave a review of the podcast on iTunes or in your podcast app of choice.

Episode 86 – State of AI, News Roundup

This week’s format is a little shorter than usual – we dispense with our third segment and stick to just the News Roundup and Question of the Week, partly in preparation for some format changes we’re planning. More about this in the episode, but we’re considering a split of the News Roundup and Question of the Week portions into separate episodes. That change – or something like it – should be happening in the next week or two, so look out for that.

This week’s News Roundup covers our usual trio of topics. First up, Intel’s proposed acquisition of Israeli tech company Mobileye for its autonomous driving technology. Secondly, a few additional details that have emerged about Hulu’s over the top pay TV service which is launching soon. And lastly, a pair of home speaker-related announcements: Google plays its first ad on Google Home, while Amazon puts Alexa in the Amazon app on iPhones.

Our Question of the Week is “What is the state of AI?” There’s been a bit of a backlash recently agains the alleged overuse of “AI” to describe all kinds of technologies, and certainly evidence that the term has been used increasingly on earnings calls and elsewhere. So what is the definition of AI, and what counts and what doesn’t? Is it being overused (or underused)? And what is it actually being used for today?

Our Weekly Pick is a TV show recommended by Aaron.

As usual, you’ll find some links to related content as well as other ways to listen to the podcast beneath the embedded Soundcloud player below.

We invite listeners to submit questions for subsequent weeks in the comments below, on Twitter (@jandawson@aaronmiller), or via email (jan at jackdawresearch dot com). We also have a dedicated Podcast Twitter handle at @BDPcast.

As ever, you can also find the podcast on iTunes, in the Overcast app, or your own favorite podcast app. Here is the RSS feed for the podcast if you want to add it manually to your app of choice.

Show notes:

Here are some useful links relating to this week’s episode:

Please leave us a comment or get in touch via Twitter to give us feedback. We’d love to hear from you. Also, we’d love it if you would leave a review of the podcast on iTunes.

Episode 74 – Music Streaming, Are Gadgets Dead?

Our News Roundup this week covers three topics. First, T-Mobile’s announcement of Digits, a service which will allow customers to use their single number on multiple devices, or multiple numbers on a single device. Second, we discuss two news items relating to Apple and AI: the announcement that its researchers will now be able to publish their research, and second the slides from its talk this week at an AI conference. Third, Amazon’s announcement of Amazon Go, a sort of grocery store of the future.

Our Question of the Week is “How is streaming changing the music industry?” Jan talks about the size and composition of the music industry and its revenues, and the rise of streaming. We discuss the differences between ad-supported and paid streaming, and what’s happening with each. And we talk about where the industry will go from here.

Our third segment is a conversation about Farhad Manjoo’s article this week in the New York Times about the increasingly tough landscape for hardware vendors, and whether we agree with his conclusions.

We wrap up with our Weekly Pick, which this week is a holiday gift guide recommended by Aaron.

As usual, you’ll find some links to related content as well as other ways to listen to the podcast beneath the embedded Soundcloud player below.

We invite listeners to submit questions for subsequent weeks in the comments below, on Twitter (@jandawson@aaronmiller), or via email (jan at jackdawresearch dot com). We also have a dedicated Podcast Twitter handle at @BDPcast.

As ever, you can also find the podcast on iTunes, in the Overcast app, or your own favorite podcast app. Here is the RSS feed for the podcast if you want to add it manually to your app of choice.

Show notes:

Here are some useful links relating to this week’s episode:

Please leave us a comment or get in touch via Twitter to give us feedback. We’d love to hear from you. Also, we’d love it if you would leave a review of the podcast on iTunes.

Episode 65 – Google Assistant, Pixel, and Home

This week’s episode dispenses with our usual format and focuses exclusively on Google’s event. We kick off the episode with a discussion about Google’s AI message and the Google Assistant, and the role of AI in differentiation, both for Google services and the new hardware. We then discuss the Pixel phones, the positioning, the strategy, and the devices themselves. Lastly, we talk about Google Home and its entry into a market currently dominated by Amazon, and its prospects there.

As usual, you’ll find some links to related content as well as other ways to listen to the podcast beneath the embedded Soundcloud player below.

We invite listeners to submit questions for subsequent weeks in the comments below, on Twitter (@jandawson@aaronmiller), or via email (jan at jackdawresearch dot com). We also have a dedicated Podcast Twitter handle at @BDPcast.

As ever, you can also find the podcast on iTunes, in the Overcast app, or your own favorite podcast app. Here is the RSS feed for the podcast if you want to add it manually to your app of choice.

Show notes:

Here are some useful links relating to this week’s episode:

Please leave us a comment or get in touch via Twitter to give us feedback. We’d love to hear from you. Also, we’d love it if you would leave a review of the podcast on iTunes.