Monthly Archives: January 2022

Hello friends, and welcome back to Week in Review!

Ive taken the last few weeks to unwind and ensure that my 2022 hot takes are as scorching as possible, or at least as prescient as possible. This week, were talking about what Im sure could be one of Apples biggest scandals of the decade thus far: the itty bitty AirTag.

You can get this in your inbox every Saturday morning from the newsletter page, and follow my tweets @lucasmtny.

(Photo by James D. Morgan/Getty Images)

AirTags are a very useful product from Apple that pretty much function exactly as advertised.

Unfortunately, thats the problem.

Theres been a fair bit of controversy lately around how Apple rolled these out and how even though these are great devices to keep track of your keys, they can also easily be abused to stalk someone. This isnt a purely theoretical issue either, its already happening.

Its not a particularly unique scenario where technology can be used for good and bad purposes just think about the decades-long conversation around encryption that said I have a feeling that this is a scenario where Apple is going to lose and its going to be more embarrassing than any misstep in recent memory.

Apple has arranged so much of their wearable product marketing over the last few years on how their devices function in edge use cases. The Apple Watchs last several generations have focused on health tracking features that could help identify rare conditions or help users in a life-threatening situation. TV commercials have documented the individual stories of users who have found the Apple Watch to be a life-saving tool. With AirTags, theres potential for some of that same good, but theres also much more downside. In the next year, were undoubtedly going to see examples of AirTags being used in nefarious ways that bundled together serve as the antithesis of one of these Apple Watch commercials. It may end up being a product defined by its gross shortcomings.

Image Credits: Built for Mars screengrab

Apple has made its own post-launch efforts to tighten up how AirTags that dont belong to a certain user can be detected, but these notifications have proven buggy and have often waited far too long to alert users. Add in the fact that Apple has seemed to treat Android integration as an afterthought, not a necessary partnership in order to ship a device like this, and Apples incompetence looks a bit more severe.

I highly doubt that Apple is going to be able to design their way out of this problem. Regardless of what they ship on iOS to backtrack issues, Androids fractured ecosystem means that safeguards wont reach an awful lot of people who could be targeted.

For a nascent product category with such PR liability potential, its hard to see how Apple justifies continuing to sell AirTags. Its a unique error from Apple in that the company delivered exactly what they initially promised but failed to consider the full scope of that initial promises direct consequences.

(Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Here are a few stories this week I think you should take a closer look at:

Elizabeth Holmes convicted on 4 of 11 countsAt long last, the trial of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes reached a resolution. Now, we wait for sentencing as well as further guidance on whether Holmes will be retried for several of the counts that the jury could not reach a verdict on. Holmes was found guilty of conspiring to defraud investors, as well as defrauding investors from the DeVos family, hedge fund manager Brian Grossman and former estate and trust attorney Dan Mosely. She was not found guilty of charges related to defrauding patients, my colleague Amanda reported.

Google infringed on Sonos tech, trade court rulesGoogles smart speakers infringed on key patents held by Sonos, a US regulator ruled this week, and the company will no longer be allowed to import the infringing products which are manufactured in China. Google has already begun rolling out design changes which it hopes will interrupt its ability to sell its smart speaker devices. Sonos has seen its early lead in the smart speaker war dissipate as tech giants have thrown their weight around, but the smaller hardware company isnt shrinking away.

A smaller, quieter CESThe Omicron wave stopped the TechCrunch team from making our way to Las Vegas to check out the latest gadgets at the Consumer Electronics Show, but we were at the show in spirit and watching along with countless livestreams. While it was certainly a more low-key year, there were still plenty of wild gadgets this year. Here are some of the best ones we saw.

Some of my favorite reads from our TechCrunch+ subscription service this week:

How startups can prevent tech debt from piling upFavoring a short-term plan to get a faster go-to-market option is not always bad, provided the business has a backup plan to deliver well-designed code that would simplify future iterations and innovations. But for startups, reworking is difficult as deadlines and resource crunch prevent developers from producing clean and perfect code. Startups prioritize short-term plans and focus more on adding functionalities to achieve milestones, sign up marquee customers or raise funding. This roadmap shuffling and disregard for the long-term view trigger tech debt

5 growth marketing predictions for 2022Its been a crazy year in growth marketing, what with the meteoric rise of TikTok, radical iOS privacy shifts and a staggering $240 billion poured into U.S. startups as of September 30. All of this new money has meant heavier investments in growth marketing throughout 2021. The heavier investments have occurred during uncertain times, with startups scrambling to find ways to measure iOS conversions and unlock TikTok as a new channel

3 things founders need to know about M&AM&A is particularly beneficial for startups that struggle to scale operationally because they essentially buy cash flow, revenue and other companies traffic, meaning startups grab a bigger share of their markets. Theyre also a good way for startups to find, consolidate and experiment with their value proposition. The problem though, is that most founders dont know how to get started with M&A and resign themselves to the shadows of bigger players. But mergers are accessible and advantageous to businesses of all sizes

Thanks for reading, and again, you can get this in your inbox every Saturday morning from the newsletter page, and follow my tweets @lucasmtny.

Have a great week!

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Apples biggest scandal of 2022 is already happening - TechCrunch

TCL's concept smart glasses blend elements of AR and VR.

TCL, best known in the US for its value-priced TVs, is now looking to leap into lenses with a new smart glasses concept it announced ahead ofCES 2022. The Chinese electronics maker joins tech giants like Facebook parent company Meta, Microsoft, Oppo, Snap and Apple in exploring the potential of augmented and virtual reality.

A teaser video for TCL's smart glasses showed them being used to dial into video meetings, display turn-by-turn directions over your surroundings, take and share photos, use multiple virtual displays for work and even start your car. TCL's concept has no release date yet because it's a prototype, but the company hopes to show a working version around Mobile World Congress in February.

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TCL's glasses include a binocular micro-LED color display that uses optical holographic waveguide technology to display information and images. Waveguide is a widely used technology in AR smart glasses such as Oppo's recently announced Air Glass, and can even be found in glasses from Nokia and Vuzix as far back as 2013. TCL's concept glasses have a touch panel along the right side for navigation, and they're powered by a Qualcomm 4100 processor.

TCL is referring to the concept as XR glasses, indicating they will combine elements of augmented and virtual reality. Augmented reality displays digital images over your real world surroundings, while virtual reality headsets replace your surroundings with computer-generated imagery. Meta's Oculus Quest 2 is an example of a VR headset, while devices like the Magic Leap One and Google Glass are AR headsets.

The new concept significantly differs from TCL's NxtWear G smart glasses, which are meant to serve as a portable, wearable 140-inch screen for entertainment. The company also announced a more lightweight version of these glasses called the NxtWear Air at CES 2022.

TCL's prototype smart glasses are seemingly designed to take over a few of the responsibilities of smartphonesand laptops. In some ways, they look like a refined, sophisticated version of Google Glass -- which never resonated with consumers and sparked privacy concerns. It's been almost 10 years since Google Glass was announced, and we still have yet to see a commercially successful pair of smart glasses. (Google eventually pivoted its approach with Glass to target enterprise consumers instead.)

Stefan Streit, TCL's chief marketing officer, is well aware of the challenges that come with developing a new type of wearable computer. That's why the company's smart glasses are just in the concept stage right now. The company is still figuring out key details -- like how the interface should work and what types of services and apps make sense -- but it's also taking privacy concerns into consideration, which could help it avoid the criticisms that Google Glass faced.

"We feel like there are still a lot of question marks [with] how this works in this AR world," Streit said to CNET. "And they are not answered yet."

Head-mounted computers like virtual reality goggles are still far from being as ubiquitous as the smartphone, but the industry is certainly growing. According to the International Data Corporation, global shipments of VR headsets grew 52.4% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2021 alone, thanks in part to the popularity of VR gaming and fitness apps. Meta is currently the biggest player in the industry with almost 75% of the market, according to the IDC.

Though TCL is best known for its televisions, it is still relatively new to the US smartphone market, which is largely dominated by Apple and Samsung. The introduction of AR smart glasses, even as a concept, signals that TCL doesn't want to miss out on what may be the next major evolution of the personal computer.

The company surely isn't alone in that regard. Snapchat's parent company, Snap, also unveiled AR smart glasses that can map 3D effects onto the wearer's surroundings in May. Meta launched a pair of camera glasses in September called the Ray-Ban Stories, which it views as a step toward a more ambitious pair of AR-enabled smart glasses. Apple is also rumored to be working on a pair of AR smart glasses, according to Bloomberg, although it might not launch for years.

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TCL joins the race to create AR smart glasses, challenging Meta and possibly Apple - CNET

Aspirational visions of the metaverse peppered discussion at this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where companies showed off products like a $270 body-tracking suit and an accessory that mimics heat and cold.

The conference demonstrates the rush of industry momentum behind the metaverse, an immersive online experience across tech platforms that has become a key focus of Facebook (FB), renamed Meta in October. By now, all the tech giants are investing in the metaverse, Axios reports.

But one top tech figure doesn't believe the hype. In a new interview, former Apple (AAPL) engineer Tony Fadell who's credited with inventing the iPod and helping design the iPhone slammed the metaverse as a distraction from efforts to address existential problems in the physical world like climate change.

Moreover, the metaverse fails to address a clear need for consumers, and likely will not gain wide social acceptance for a long time, Fadell said.

"We need to spend more time on fixing the climate than we need to worry about getting into the metaverse," says Fadell, who now serves as a board member at Dice, an app-based ticket sale platform.

"So let's make sure you have an environment we live in before we find another environment that keeps us in refrigerated chambers so that we can breathe and eat," he adds.

"We've got a lot of fish to fry," he says. "And we are frying ourselves."

Some tech leaders have predicted that activities in the metaverse will come to rival and even exceed the importance of those experienced in physical reality. Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang last June said the economy of the metaverse will someday grow larger than that of the physical world.

But climate advocates have warned that the metaverse may provide a false sense of escape from the physical environment as it becomes less hospitable. "Climate change is already here," author and climate justice leader Andreas Karelas wrote in The Hill in November. "You cant create a metaverse where climate change doesnt exist."

Fadell isn't the only tech figure who questions the appeal of the metaverse. Last month, Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk told conservative satirical site The Babylon Bee that he doubts the potential for widespread adoption of the metaverse.

Story continues

I dont see someone strapping a frigging screen to their face all day and not wanting to ever leave. That seems no way," Musk said. I currently am unable to see a compelling metaverse situation.

An attendee demonstrates the Owo vest, which allows users to feel physical sensations during metaverse experiences such as virtual reality games, including wind, gunfire or punching, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) on January 5, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. - (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)

Speaking to Yahoo Finance, Fadell echoed such skepticism about consumer uptake of the metaverse.

"You need the technology, and then you have to understand that the consumers want it," he says. "And they want to live in that it."

"It's social acceptance not just you accepting it, but the people around you accepting it," he adds. "What I've learned all the time is the technology might be right, but is the social timing right? Is there a social acceptance?"

"We don't see the need yet for the metaverse," he says.

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People need to spend more time fixing the climate than getting into the metaverse: iPod inventor - Yahoo Finance

Social media companies face scrutiny from regulators, lawmakers and users over everything from misinformation to teen mental health to election security. Jenny Kane/AP hide caption

Social media companies face scrutiny from regulators, lawmakers and users over everything from misinformation to teen mental health to election security.

The tumult began in early January 2021 for social media companies. The attack on the U.S. Capitol led Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to kick off then-President Donald Trump. Throughout the year, they were challenged to stop the spread of baseless claims about the 2020 presidential election, as well as harmful vaccine misinformation.

Facebook had to respond to a whistleblower's revelations, just when it wanted to turn everyone's attention to the "metaverse." Twitter's eccentric CEO abruptly left, handing the company, as well as its ambitions to create a new version of social media, over to a little-known deputy. The Trump administration's attempt to ban TikTok over national security concerns fizzled, allowing the Chinese-owned app to cement its hold as the defining driver of youth culture.

It's fair to say social media apps were at the center of politics and society in 2021, and not always for the better. And yet, many thrived financially, reporting record profits.

So what will 2022 bring? Here are four areas to watch this year.

If members of Congress agree on one thing, it's that the tech giants are too big and too powerful. (On Monday, Apple became the first publicly traded company to be worth $3 trillion.)

But the agreement stops there. Democrats want laws that force tech companies to take down more harmful content. Republicans say the platforms censor conservative views, despite evidence showing that right-wing content and figures thrive on social media.

The best chance for bipartisanship may come from a Senate Commerce subcommittee led by Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn. They say they want to work together, particularly when it comes to protecting kids and teens online. (Both have decried what Instagram shows to younger users after having their staffs make fake accounts on the photo-sharing platform.)

Lawmakers have introduced a slew of bills targeting tech giants, from holding social media platforms responsible for health misinformation to requiring companies to open up more data to outside researchers to updating the two-decade-old children's privacy law. They also want to beef up competition law and give more firepower to the Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department, which regulate big tech.

The question is, will any of these bills become law in 2022?

European regulators have been more willing to confront tech giants, perhaps because they have little interest in protecting U.S. supremacy in the sector and because many Europeans are more comfortable with government intervention to protect citizens.

The European Union is writing strict new rules that would prevent big tech companies from giving preference to their own products and services such as Amazon pushing people toward items it sells over those from third-party vendors. They would also force companies to crack down more on harmful content, such as child sex abuse and terrorism, and give users more control over how their data is used to target ads.

The U.K. recently set new standards for how apps should be designed for kids, including providing parental controls, turning off location tracking and limiting what data they collect. Companies including Instagram, TikTok and YouTube are already making changes to comply. For these global companies, it's often easier to implement new rules universally than try to enforce a hodgepodge of different policies for users in different countries. Regulations passed in Europe could affect users far beyond the continent.

Reports that Instagram was building a version of its photo-sharing app for kids under 13 drew criticism from parents and regulators and bipartisan outrage in Congress. The outcry was magnified by internal research leaked by Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen revealing that Instagram knows its platform is toxic for some teen girls.

Under pressure, Instagram paused work on the kids' app in September, but Instagram head Adam Mosseri made clear to Congress in December that the company still plans to pursue the project. He says kids are already online, so it would be better if they used a version of Instagram with parental controls.

All social media platforms, from Instagram to TikTok and Snapchat, will wrestle with this in 2022. Kids and teens are a critical demographic, one that is essential to the companies' growth.

The companies say they've learned a lot from dealing with adversaries ranging from Russian trolls and Chinese influence operations to elected officials spreading disinformation and companies selling spying as a service.

But the challenges to their platforms keep evolving too. Using social media to sow discord, undermine authoritative information and circulate rumors and lies is now a tactic used by anti-vaccine activists, far-right extremists and climate change deniers. So in 2022, you can expect elected officials and candidates to continue to spread misinformation online.

Pressure is already on social media companies to ramp up resources before the campaigning truly gets underway. Some lawmakers are eager to pass laws pressuring the companies to do more to stop the spread of harmful or false content, but those dictates could run up against the tech platforms' First Amendment rights.

Meanwhile, executives like Meta (formerly Facebook) CEO Mark Zuckerberg have made clear they do not want to be the arbiters of what people can say online. And do people really want to give these unelected corporate leaders that power? We'll be watching for the answer to that question in 2022.

Editor's note: Amazon, Apple and Google are among NPR's financial supporters. Meta pays NPR to license NPR content.

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Facebook, Instagram and social apps face pressure in US and Europe in 2022 - NPR

A global deal to ensure major international firms including IT giants pay their fair share of tax no matter where they are located will stipulate the participation of the United States as a requirement to become effective, Japanese government sources said Saturday.

Since the tech giants known as GAFA including Google LLC and Apple Inc are all based in the United States, the requirement is aimed at preventing the country's withdrawal from the deal before implementation, they said.

The tax deal, which includes a global minimum corporate tax rate of 15 percent, was worked out through international negotiations at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and was endorsed by Group of 20 members in October.

The OECD will finalize the deal's text in 2022 for ratification by over 130 countries and regions including China and India so the new rules can enter into force in 2023 as agreed.

Around half of roughly 100 companies expected to be subject to the taxation are American corporations.

The OECD is considering requiring other major countries' participation for the tax rules' implementation such as Group of Seven members and China, sources said.

Implementation of the agreement with such a requirement is expected to make it difficult for future administrations of the United States to pull out from it, they said.

But the prospects for U.S. ratification of the agreement remain unclear as the Senate is evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans.

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Global tax reform deal to require U.S. participation to be effective - Japan Today