DeCODE The Week ≠ Audio & Video Technology Weekly

Credit: Hollie Fuller

Collectivism is My Biggest Enemy 

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/News Briefing.

  • Apple has Loaded new products for the Spring Festival

Last week, Apple held a big spring event where it unveiled a slew of new products, including colorful M1-powered iMacs and M1-powered iPad Pros, as well as a new 4K Apple TV, The highlights are likely to be a very nice purple iPhone 12 and 12 Mini, plus the long-awaited UWB lost property finder Airtag, an Apple Home Card plan and a new podcast app.

Apple also reminded developers last week that starting April 26, iPhone and iPad apps must use Xcode 12 and the iOS 14 SDK or higher. Apple Watch apps need to use Xcode 12 and the WatchOS 7 SDK or later.

  • Netflix’s subscriber growth is slowing. The company says it’s slowing production because of the outbreak

Netflix reported its quarterly earnings last week, and Wall Street wasn’t happy with its subscriber growth, which was well below Netflix’s forecast of 210 million subscribers. Netflix added a net 4 million new subscribers in the first quarter of 2021, bringing its total subscriber base to 207.6 million, according to its latest earnings report.

While it’s true that the streaming market has become more competitive (Disney + recently surpassed 100 million subscribers), Netflix said its sluggish growth has less to do with “the intensity of competition” and more to do with production delays related to the outbreak and fewer original shows and movies being distributed.

  • Discord may be on the verge of an IPO

Discord, whose service allows players to communicate with each other via text, video and voice in games, reportedly turned down a $12 billion takeover offer from Microsoft. Other companies are also in talks with Discord, including Twitter. Discord is believed to be valued at between $15bn and $18bn. Discord is pursuing an initial public offering (IPO) after a number of companies were in talks with Discord to buy the audio game giant (none of which is being discussed).

  • Facebook will be live-streaming the Oscars

At the 93rd Academy Awards, Facebook is teaming up with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to give fans a way to live their interactive experience on its platform. One of the projects will include a live, interactive Messenger Room, where users will watch a live stream and winners will be interviewed live exclusively in the Messenger Room. Facebook also provided an augmented reality backdrop for the room, which will be streamed live at 8 p.m. EDT on Friday.

Facebook also announced a range of Audio products last week, including a Clubhouse clone — Live Audio Rooms will be available on Facebook’s social platform and Messenger. The company has also launched Spotify Integration, a music and podcasting class, and SoundBites, an audio version of “TikTok”.

  • Microsoft has launched a beta version of its Xbox Cloud games for iOS and PC users

Last week, the Xbox Cloud Gaming Beta began rolling out Game Pass Ultimate to iOS and PC users, with a limited number of invites in 22 countries and a gradual expansion over time. While Apple has announced a new way to allow the cloud gaming platform to offer its own games through its App Store by making each game a separate App that connects to IAPs, Microsoft has chosen to operate its experience through its Safari web browser.

/ How Interesting.

  • Yamauchi-No.10 Family Office 

The website interface for the office of Nintendo’s founding family(https://y-n10.com/- Remember to turn on the sound…

  • Google Earth gets its biggest upgrade since 2017 

Google Earth has attracted billions of users over the past 15 years and Google has been working to create a 3D replica of the world. Not long ago, Google Earth received its biggest upgrade since 2017, and users can now see their planet from a whole new dimension — time. With TimeLapse in Google Earth, 24 million satellite photos taken over the past 37 years have been edited into an interactive 4D experience space where time unrolled in front of all and we’ve been able to witness nearly four decades of planetary change.

Over the past half-century, our planet has undergone more rapid environmental change than at any other time in human history. For many people, the effects of climate change are abstract and remote, like melting ice caps and retreating glaciers. With TimeLapse on Google Earth, users can see the changing planet more clearly.

(Sources:https://blog.google/products/…

/ Some Thoughts.

  • How does video conferencing affect our brains

Zoom Fatigue refers specifically to the Fatigue caused by Zoom video conferencing.

A Harvard Business School study last year detailed how employees work longer hours as a result of videoconferencing — even though the meetings individually are much shorter than real-world meetings.

In fact, we all know that these constant video calls are doing something to our brains. Why else would we get tired sitting at home all day?

A report from Microsoft looked at how endless video conferencing affected participants’ brain activity – it was a small study with only 14 participants, so it might seem implausible. But the notion that “constant video calling increases user stress and leads to more ‘brain noise'” has driven much of the change in telecommuting products, though the culture of idealized productivity associated with telecommuting may be the hardest to change.

According to a recent study published at Stanford University, women are disproportionately affected by what people call “Zoom Fatigue” — the Fatigue caused by attending Zoom video conferencing. More than twice as many women as men reported severe fatigue after a conference call, possibly because women’s meetings tend to last longer and they are less likely to take breaks between meetings. In addition, people are increasingly concerned about women’s appearance, and it’s clear that this is not a simple “no one likes video calls” situation.

Stanford University has some suggestions, such as keeping the camera far away, walking around, or simply turning off self-view.

“The final solutions, however, can’t be entirely personal — they have to be structural, and while we may leave the so-called ‘year of videoconferencing’ behind us, there are undoubtedly many more to come. Employers and organisers therefore need to recognise these risks and develop policies to mitigate them — not just to increase employee liability. If anyone asks, tell them science says it, “a TechCrunch reporter wrote in an analysis of Microsoft’s research report.

As vaccinations continue to climb, a growing number of tech workers are beginning to wonder what their job prospects will be as more companies embrace a mixed office culture. One lingering question is the extent to which the impact of telecommuting in the epidemic era has sunk into our collective ideas about how work fits into our lives.

Decode The Week brings you the latest and most interesting audio and video (technical/non-technical) news to share with you — and you’re welcome to share it with us in the background comments or via email at [email protected].