Category Archives: Google

AirPort, Apple, Cord-Cutting, Episodes, Google, Google Wifi, Instagram, Thanksgiving, TV, WiFi

Episode 72 – Cord Cutting, Tech Thanksgiving

This week’s episode is a special Thanksgiving episode for our listeners here in the US.

Our News Roundup covers three stories. The first two are WiFi-related, with Google making its new Google Wifi devices available for sale and providing a self-made review of sorts as well, and Bloomberg reporting that Apple will discontinue its line of AirPort WiFi routers. Our third story is Instagram’s launch of both live video and disappearing photos.

Our Question of the Week is “What is the state of cord cutting in the US pay TV market?” Jan talks through the research and analysis he does each quarter and some of the numbers on the current state of the US pay TV market and cord cutting. But we also discuss cord nevers and cord shaving, two other phenomena affecting the pay TV industry in the US, and the implications of all this for the players in the market.

Our third segment is our Thanksgiving special, in which both Aaron and Jan share three technology things they’re thankful for.

We wrap up with our Weekly Pick, which this week is a movie 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.

Apple, Cars, Design, Episodes, Facebook, Google, Harman, M&A, Samsung, Snapchat, Twitter

Episode 71 – Samsung buys Harman, MacBook Pro Review and Apple Design

This week’s episode is back to our usual format, with a News Roundup to kick things off, a Question of the Week, and a third segment, followed by a Weekly Pick.

Our News Roundup covers three stories: firstly, Snap (nee Snapchat) released its Spectacles hardware and reportedly confidentially filed IPO documents with the SEC; secondly, Twitter introduced some muting options to help combat abuse and harassment, while also kicking several figures from the “alt-right” movement off the service’; and thirdly, the fake news story we discussed last week continued to evolve this week with Facebook and Google both making news.

Our Question of the Week is “What are the implications of Samsung buying Harman International?” Aaron did some research this week into this acquisition and its implications, and answers questions about what exactly Samsung is buying, what Harman’s connected car business does, and how the two companies might bring their assets together, and lastly how this is likely to impact consumers and the broader tech industry. (We also weigh in on the idea that Apple should have bought Harman instead).

Our third segment combines a couple of Apple-related items: Jan shares a summary of his MacBook Pro review from earlier this week, and we also discuss the new coffee table book Apple launched this week about its design.

We wrap up with our Weekly Pick, which this week is a movie recommended by Jan.

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.

Daydream, Elections, Episodes, Google, Google Home, Pixel, Politics, Trump, Virtual reality

Episode 70 – Tech and the Election, Google Hardware Review

In this week’s episode, we cover two topics: technology and the US presidential election, and a review of Google’s three new hardware products: Home, Pixel, and Daydream View.

Our first topic, which takes up a little over the first half of the episode, is this week’s US presidential election. We do share our personal thoughts on the outcome briefly, but most of this segment is devoted to the role technology and particularly social media played in the election, and then the likely outcome of the election for tech policy. We specifically discuss trade, M&A activity and the media, net neutrality, and repatriation of overseas profits.

Our second topics is our Question of the Week, in which Jan shares his first impressions of Google’s Home, Pixel and Daydream View hardware, which he’s been using for a while now. We discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each piece of hardware, as well as Jan’s overall views on Google’s first hardware efforts.

We wrap up with our Weekly Pick, which this week is a camping stove 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.

Alphabet, Apple, Cars, Earnings, Episodes, Google, Google Assistant, Hardware, LeEco, Pixel, TV

Episode 67 – LeEco, Project Titan, Q3 Earnings Preview, Pixel Reviews

This week’s News Roundup is a little longer than usual as we do a deeper than expected dive into three topics. First off, we discuss the US coming-out party for LeEco, a Chinese consumer technology company that’s taking a content-centric approach. Secondly, we discuss reports that Apple is scaling back and refocusing its car initiative. And lastly, we talk about Google’s apparent deal with CBS as part of its planned YouTube-based over-the-top TV service.

Our Question of the Week this week is all about Q3 earnings and what to expect from seven of the top consumer technology companies: Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, Samsung, and Twitter. Jan talks through each of these companies in turn and talk about what he’s watching out for, and what to expect in both the numbers and the discussion by executives on earnings calls.

Our third segment is a brief roundup of the reviews that came out this week for the Google Pixel smartphone, whose launch we discussed a couple of weeks ago. The reviews were largely consistent, but we discuss some of the areas of disagreement as well as the interesting trends that are emerging from these and other recent reviews.

We wrap up the episode with a Weekly Pick, which this week is a our first Twitter account recommendation, from 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:

  • News Roundup:
  • Jan’s Q3 earnings preview piece on Techpinions (paywall).
  • Aaron’s Weekly Pick was a Twitter account, Mark Miller’s @MDMDeals account, which tweets only the most worthwhile deals on iOS apps.

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.

AI, Alphabet, Artificial Intelligence, Assistants, Episodes, Google, Google Assistant, Google Home, Hardware, Pixel

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.

Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Apple Watch, Episodes, Google, Instagram, iOS 10, iPhone, iPhone 7, Samsung, Verily, WatchOS

Episode 62 – Verily Overview, iPhone Reviews Review

Our News Roundup this week covers the ongoing fallout from the Samsung Galaxy Note7 battery problems; the story that Amazon is going to be experimenting with a 30-hour work week for some of its employees; and the expansion of comment filtering functionality to all users by Instagram. We discuss each of these topics for a few minutes and talk about the context and implications. We’ll likely do a Question of the Week next week on consumer product recalls using the Note7 recall as a jumping-off point.

Our Question of the Week this week is “What is Verily and what does it do?” This question builds on a piece Jan wrote for Techpinions Insiders contrasting Alphabet and Apple’s approaches to the healthcare space, with Verily being Alphabet’s Life Sciences subsidiary (formerly Google Life Sciences). We talk through what Verily is, who runs it, what it’s intended to accomplish, its internal projects and its partnerships with other organizations, and lastly how it’s perceived within the broader life sciences community. It’s a fascinating business and we both learned a lot from doing this segment.

Our third segment is a discussion of the reviews for the iPhone 7 and Apple Watch Series 2, which will be available for sale on Friday, as well as a brief discussion of iOS and watchOS 3, which were released to the general public this week.

Our Weekly Pick is a TV show recommendation from 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.

Apple, Episodes, Google, Messaging, Samsung, Twitter

Episode 58 – Unsticking Twitter, What We Use

Our News Roundup this week covers the Samsung Note7 reviews that came out this week; Google’s launch of its Duo video calling app for Android and iOS; and Apple’s announcement of an R&D center in China.

Our Question of the Week is “Why does Twitter seem stuck, and how can it unstick itself?” Jan answers questions about what makes Twitter seem stuck, from its user growth to monetization in the US to its product; why Twitter seems to be executing so slowly on its strategic priorities; and what Twitter can and should do to fix itself and get past its current stagnation.

Our third segment is a bit of a departure from our usual pattern, in that it’s just us talking about the technology – hardware, software, and services – that we use in our daily work and personal lives.

Lastly, we wrap up with a Weekly Pick, which is a book recommendation from 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:

  • Various posts from Jan on Twitter
  • Aaron’s Weekly Pick was The White Man’s Burden, by William Easterly, which you can find on Amazon (affiliate link).

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.

Advertising, Apple, Cars, China, Episodes, EU, Facebook, Google, Mary Meeker, Microsoft, Smart home, Xiaomi

Episode 49 – State of the Smart Home, Mary Meeker’s Deck

This week’s News Roundup covered three topics: Microsoft’s deal with Xiaomi to share patents and pre-install Office and Skype on Xiaomi devices; rumors of a new 5K display from Apple; and a new EU Code of Conduct on policing hate speech signed by major American tech companies. We discuss the ins and outs of each of these stories and their implications.

Our Question of the Week is “What’s the state of the smart home, and how will it change?” This topic builds off a recent piece Jan wrote for Techpinions which was syndicated to Recode, titled “The Smart Home is Stuck“, in which Jan argued that the most high-profile element of the smart home market – the retail purchase, self-install segment, is stuck at the early adopter phase. However, we also discuss the other major segment in the market, which is the service-based alternative, which sees devices professionally installed and managed, and charges monthly service fees rather than a one-off device purchase fee. This part of the market, exemplified by companies like Vivint, AT&T, and Alarm.com (through a white label model) is performing much better. We talk about how this situation might change over time, some of the other dynamics, and potential future innovations in the space.

Our third topic is a discussion of analyst Mary Meeker’s most recent slide deck, which provides a 200-slide overview of major trends in the internet and related fields, and was presented at the Code Conference this week. We focus on three of the trends she identified – ad spend, cars and technology, and China – and discuss each of these in some detail.

We wrap up with our Weekly Pick, which is something of a follow-up to an earlier recommendation from 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.

Apple, Artificial Intelligence, Assistants, Episodes, Google, Microsoft, Music, Siri, Spotify, Twitter, Voice recognition, Windows 10, Windows Phone, WWDC, WWDC2016

Episode 48 – Consumer Tech in Africa, Apple & AI

We’re back to our usual format for this week, with a News Roundup, Question of the Week, and a third topic, plus a Weekly Pick.

Our News Roundup covered three topics: Spotify’s financials, which Jan wrote about earlier in the week; Microsoft’s decision to exit the consumer smartphone market; and Twitter’s planned change to the 140-character limit. Our Question of the Week piggybacks off Aaron’s recent trip to Ghana, which is one of a number of trips he’s made there over the last nine years. The question is “What’s the state of consumer technology in Africa?” and we spent a good amount of timing doing a deep dive into this topic, based not just on Aaron’s personal observations but on additional research (see the show notes for a couple of good sources).

Our third topic this episode was Apple’s efforts in AI, and a narrative that seems to have emerged recently about a perception that Apple is behind in AI, and that this will be problematic for the company. We talk about the pros and cons of this argument, how it relates to Siri specifically, and how Siri might evolve at this year’s WWDC. Lastly, we have our Weekly Pick, which is actually a double recommendation from Jan this time around.

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.

Apple, Episodes, Google, Google IO, Messaging

Episode 47 – Apple in Asia, Google I/O Announcements

Aaron is finally back from his travels in Africa, and so we returned to something more like our usual format this week. We kicked things off with a News Roundup, with two of the topics concerning Apple in Asia. We first discussed Apple’s investment in Chinese ride-sharing service Didi, and what that’s really about, and then talked about Apple’s smaller but still significant investments in India, also announced this week. Lastly, we discussed Microsoft’s sale of its feature phone business to Foxconn.

Our main topic this week, though, was Google’s I/O developer conference, and the announcements it made there. We kick things off with a discussion of the Google Home device and the Google assistant that will power it but also exist elsewhere. We next discuss the two new communications apps from Google – Allo and Duo – and whether they’re likely to help Google’s position in this space (spoiler: probably not). We also discuss Android N and the thinking behind moving up the preview release earlier this year, Android Wear, and especially VR and Google’s Daydream initiative. Lastly, we talk about the fact that Android apps will soon be able to run on Chrome OS.

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.