News, week 45.
A new verdict for Vine
As Twitter announced that they are to shut down the viral video app Vine, founder Rus Yusopov expressed his regrets of selling the company in a short and straight forward tweet: “Don’t sell your company!”. But he was not alone in his despair as thousands of loyal Vine users also took to social media in a battle of saving the popular app. Luckily the market seems to have responded to the strong demand as multiple bids have been placed since the announcement on October 27th, and Twitter says that they are hoping to make a deal.
https://techcrunch.com/2016/11/07/revive-vine/
Tango: Google’s new AR smartphone system
After Pokémon Go, the interest for augmented reality rapidly increased, especially within gaming. Last week Google announced the launch of their long awaited AR smartphone system Tango, after 2 years of finessing. It is expected to create new possibilities for mobile gaming but can also be used for other purposes like interior design or education. As of now it’s only available in Lenovo’s Phab2 smartphone, but is expected to be integrated into many Android devices this coming year.
https://techcrunch.com/2016/11/01/google-finally-launches-tango/?ncid=rss
Samsung announces new AI assistant
After facing a global crisis due to the company’s exploding smartphones, Samsung challenges its competitors by announcing a new AI virtual assistant. Earlier this fall Samsung acquired Viv Labs, the inventors behind Apple’s AI assistant Siri, and will be integrating their digital assistant Viv into the technology. It will be released together with the new Galaxy S8 which is expected to launch in 2017.