Here are a few of the stories I’ve found interesting over the last couple days
Samsung Galaxy Smart Tag Review
I took a look at the Galaxy Smart Tag Bluetooth tracker from Samsung. It is… sufficient.
https://www.thewunderbar.net/blog/2021/6/16/samsung-galaxy-smart-tag-review-sufficient
Instagram Officially Launches Ads in Reels
When Instagram launched Reels last year, there were no ads on that specific portion of the service. There was an approximately zero percent chance that Reels were going to stay ad free forever, and that day has come. Ads in Reels is now launching globally, because on Instagram, you are the product.
https://www.theverge.com/2021/6/17/22537297/instagram-reels-ads-launch-globally
Amazon Removes Ravpower Products from its Store
A month after removing products from Aukey and Mpow from Amazon, the company has now removed products from the Ravpower brand as well. While Amazon has not officially confirmed why these brands are being removed, it is reported that the reason for removal was that they were violating Amazon’s terms of service by paying users for product reviews, either directly or indirectly through gift cards or discounts.
Review scams have been a problem on Amazon for years, and the company has been trying to crack down, it looks like these efforts are now reaching the brands directly, with significant consequences for them.
https://www.theverge.com/2021/6/16/22536976/amazon-ravpower-battery-charger-removed-amazon
Amazon Cutting Fees on Some Developers on the Amazon Appstore
Continuing with the Amazon news, the company is following Apple and Google’s lead in cutting the fee it charges on its app store from 30% to 20% for “smaller developers”. Amazon is also giving those developers credit of the equivalent to 10% of their app revenue to Amazon Web Services in an attempt to incentivize those developers to build their services in Amazon’s data centers. Frankly, I’m surprised it took Amazon this long to copy Apple and Google, but the fact that no one seemed to notice that they hadn’t yet may just be a sign on what people think about Amazon’s app ecosystem on the Fire tablets (that is to say… it isn’t good).
https://www.engadget.com/amazon-cut-appstore-fees-smaller-developers-073043891.html
Qualcomm Says The New Wear Platform Will Run On its Watches, Google Says Not So Fast
This one got really confusing this week. Qualcomm, maker of the Snapdragon Wear platform that most Wear OS smartwatches run on, said that it believed that watches running both the very old Wear 3100 platform and the slightly less old Wear 4100 platform will be able to run the new version of Wear that Google and Samsung are developing for smartwatches. This came after Fossil, the largest maker of Wear OS watches, announced that its existing watches will not be updated to the new platform.
Google has now also chimed in to say that no decision on whether existing Wear OS watches will be upgraded to the new Wear platform, and that the user experience will be the priority when deciding.
This confusion only serves one purpose: it signals that no one should buy a Wear OS smartwatch right now. There is too much uncertainty on the platform, and it is best to wait until watches with the new Wear platform are released.
https://www.androidcentral.com/qualcomm-confirms-wear-os-chipset-support
Tamagotchi is Coming for Your Wrist
Somehow, Tamagotchi is turning 25 this year. I’ll let that sink in for a second…… Great. Now, apparently Tamagotchi is still a thing, and there is a new version coming later this year that straps to your wrist like a watch, and has a touch screen, and apparently can wake up if you yell at it.
I have nothing further to add.
https://www.engadget.com/tamagotchi-smart-180405450.html