Category: UNCATEGORIZED

Back in June, Dropbox debuted a preview version of the “new Dropbox”. Built around a standalone app interface and focused on integrating all of your work tools (your Slack, G Suite, Zoom calls, etc) into one place, it’s a pretty dramatic overhaul from the simple shared folders that Dropbox has always been known for.

Not everyone was a fan — John Gruber, for example, pointed out that all he wants from Dropbox is what it originally promised: a basic folder that syncs really, really well.

However you feel about it, the new Dropbox will start rolling out to everyone today. Those shared folders are now “Dropbox Spaces” — a hub, effectively, built around your shared files.

Here’s some of what’s different:

• A Dropbox Space can have text descriptions to break down its purpose, and basic to-do lists for managing upcoming tasks.
• A “For You” tab that lives in your Windows system tray or macOS menu bar pulls info from your calendar and tries to find files you might be looking for mid-meeting, and shows you a timeline of recent activity (edits, comments) from your team.

• “People pages” let you see everything you’ve shared or collaborated on with a specific member of your team
• Tools like Slack, Zoom, and Trello can all be integrated into a Dropbox Space, allowing you to join a Zoom Meeting or add things to a Trello card from within a Dropbox space.
• Cloud files, like those in your Google Docs or Office 365 accounts, can be brought into Dropbox Spaces
• You can now search for things within your images, with Dropbox using computer vision to recognize an image’s contents. Works with JPG, PNG, and GIF files. Dropbox says this’ll roll into Dropbox Pro today, with Dropbox Business plans getting it “soon.”

• Dropbox Transfer allows you to share large files (from 100 MB for Basic users up to 100GB for Pro/Business users) with others, regardless of whether or not they have a Dropbox account. Upload a file, and you’ll get a shareable link. You can setup alerts notifying you when a file is downloaded, put a password on it, or set the link to expire after a certain date.

Dropbox doesn’t want to be seen as “just” a storage company any more — Dropbox CEO Drew Houston outright said it on stage, asking audience members to try to stop thinking of it as a storage company. Standing in front of a slide declaring that “the way we’re working isn’t working,” he outlined the company’s newfound focus on being a hub for all things work.

And if you prefer the old look and feel of Dropbox, with your Dropbox folders sitting amongst your other folders right within your OS? It doesn’t seem to be going away. You’ll need the new app to do any of the aforementioned new stuff, but your Dropbox folders and files will still appear in your Finder windows as before. A representative from Dropbox tells me there’s no plans on the roadmap to change that.

The Alexa microwave admittedly seemed a bit goofy when Amazon introduced it at an event this time last year. But low cost coupled with the company’s built-in promotional machine have made it the best selling microwave on the site — that’s no small feat.

Now it’s returning with the Amazon Smart Oven. From the look of it, the product is a much cheaper take on devices like the June Oven. The device adds convection cooking, air frying and food drying to existing microwave functionality.

The product also represents a nice bit of cross-brand synergy, using the Alexa app or Echo Show camera to scan in labels from Whole Foods products and set itself accordingly. Amazon says the “scan to cook” feature works with “hundreds of different Whole Foods products.

The Smart Oven is available for preorder today at $250. Orders include a free Echo Dot, because why not?

Facebook spent a large amount of time at its Oculus Connect 6 keynote detailing the new links between its VR headset and the company’s core Facebook app.

“Starting late this year, we will begin to roll out a completely new social layer across the Oculus platform powered by Facebook,” Oculus exec Megan Fitzgerald said onstage. “This is going to enable a lot of new ways to connect on the Facebook–on the Oculus platform.”

Oculus users will soon be able to long in via their Facebook logins and gain access to more social features, including direct-posting to Facebook. Users will be able to message their Oculus friends inside the headset and on non-VR devices. They will also be able to create events and invite friends.

One new feature, called Destinations, will allow users to broadcast what they are doing inside games so that they can share with friends looking to play. The broadcasts will share deep links to the titles so you can click a button inside chat on your phone which will launch the game on your Quest so you just have to toss the headset on to play with friends. Cutting down on friction has been a major goal for Oculus and these deep links could be a major evolution for the system.

Logging into your Oculus device via a Facebook login is still optional, but it seems that Facebook is pushing more functionality that is only possible for users that connect their VR device to the app.

General Motors is adding Amazon Alexa to the infotainment systems of its Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac vehicles in the first half of next year — one of the broadest rollouts of an embedded Alexa Auto experience, the automaker said Wednesday.

The new in-vehicle Amazon Alexa experience will be added through a software update to model 2018 and newer cars, trucks and crossovers with compatible infotainment systems. In other words, customers don’t have to buy a new 2020 Chevy to get the Amazon Alexa feature.

The company made the announcement Wednesday in conjunction with Amazon’s Devices event.

The addition of Amazon’s Alexa follows GM’s announcement in early September that Google will provide in-vehicle voice, navigation and other apps in its Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet  and GMC vehicles starting in 2021.

GM used the Amazon announcement to highlight its ability to use vehicle connectivity and its “updateable” app framework to bring new features in its vehicles. These over-the-air software updates, first popularized by Tesla, have become increasingly important for automakers hoping to retain tech savvy customers who have become used to their constantly improving smartphones.

“GM’s updateable app framework and vehicle connectivity lets us provide customers with new technologies that enhance the ownership experience, even to customers with vehicles that are already on the road,” said Santiago Chamorro, vice president for Global Connected Services, GM. “Bringing the Alexa experience to our vehicles is an example of how we are listening to our customers’ feedback, and offering them the voice technology of their choice.”

The news also shows Amazon’s continued push into the automotive world. Amazon has been moving into the car for a few years now through the integration of Alexa and car-focused delivery services as well as direct investments in startups like Rivian. The ecommerce company launched its Amazon Key service to let customers  give delivery drivers access to their house with the help of a compatible keypad on their door and a smart security camera. But in 2018, that service expanded to the car with its Key by Amazon In-Car delivery service. 

GM and Volvo were the first participants in the Key by Amazon In-Car delivery service. Ford joined the in-car delivery service in April 2019.

The addition of Amazon Alexa into GM vehicles will let owners use voice commands to check the news, control smart home devices like lights or thermostats, and ask directions to points of interest or nearby restaurants. The Alexa directions feature is integrated with GM’s embedded navigation systems in the vehicle and OnStar Turn-by-Turn navigation using natural language.

GM owners will also be able to ask Alexa to play a specific song, artist, genre, or station, as well as audiobooks or podcasts. Alexa can fulfill the request by bringing up available streaming services.

I think we’re on Echo device number seven for the morning? Echo Flex is one of the more interesting additions at this morning’s big event in Seattle. For those cases where the Echo Dot isn’t cheap enough or versatile enough, there’s the Echo Flex. The device plugs directly into a wall outlet, bringing Alexa functionality to spots where the smart assistant otherwise couldn’t reach.

It’s an interesting solution to Amazon’s on-going quest to get Alexa in every single room. In fact, the presenter mentioned adding one to his bathroom, which, yuck, to be totally honest. The device is small enough to only occupy a single outlet and features a slot to plug in an additional nightlight.

It’s a clever addition to the Echo ecosystem, and at $25, Amazon bound to sell a lot of the things. Like just about everything else announced a this morning’s event, it’s available for pre-order starting today.

Amazon is launching a new generation of Eero router, the first new iteration of Eero hardware since it acquired the company earlier this year. The new router is $99 for one, or available in a three-pack for $249, and is available in the U.S. today and in Europe later this year.

Alongside the new hardware, Amazon has added even more specific voice commands for its routers, including the ability to turn on and off guest Wifi via voice, as well as pause Wifi access for specific devices on the network (Amazon showed off turning off the PlayStation Wifi as one example). These features go above and beyond what’s currently available for third-party devices, but Amazon says it’s also making an API available and that routers from TP-Link, Asus, Linksys and Arris will able to take advantage, as well.

Amazon’s intent with the revised Eero and Alexa commands is to make the whole process of setting up and managing a secure Wifi network super easy for everyone.

The price point on the new Eero is certainly attractive, and more competitive than the previous version, which started at $149 for just a beacon alone, and $199 for the hub. No word yet on specifications for the type of Wifi on board (Amazon didn’t mention Wifi 6, for instance) but we’ll have more info once it’s available.

Out of all of the hardware announced so far at this morning’s big Amazon event, the Echo Glow is perhaps the oddest entry. It’s a $30 colorful glowing sphere. Why? Because Amazon said so. Tapping the top of the device will cycle through a number of different colors. It can blink. It has a campfire mode.

Beyond that, I’m a little at a loss to explain why the thing needs to exist. But, then, this is the company that introduced an Alexa-powered Big Mouth Billy Bass. At this point, the Amazon team seem more intent on demonstrating all of the different products that can work with the Alexa ecosystem — even those that aren’t particularly useful.

Anyway, here it is. It exists. And you can preorder it today for $30. Once it arrives, let me know if you figure out what it’s for.

Amazon is partnering up with Food Network on a new recipe service for its Echo Show line of devices, borne out of the interest it saw in users for recipes and cooking videos on the smart video speaker. The new Food Network Kitchen service, which is launching in October, will be available on phones and tablets, too, and will offer recipe saving and cooking directions – as well as exclusive live and on-demand cooking classes for Echo Show users.

On stage at their Amazon Devices Event in Seattle, Amazon showed off the upcoming service on stage, including a demo featuring an on-demand cooking class with celebrity chef Bobby Flay. It looks likely that you’ll at least get access to on-demand cooking lessons from a range of Food Network talent, since Amazon SVP of Devices Dave Limp also referenced Alton Brown on stage.

You can also ask Alexa for specific guidance at any step of the process, and she’ll provide answers to your clarifying questions.

Limp said that “you’re going to be able to have live classes as well,” which makes it sound like this will be a pretty full-featured competitor to something like what Peloton offers for fitness. Limp added that the live class instructors are still developing and “practising these in the studio,” so we didn’t get a chance to see yet how an actual live class will work on the Echo Show.

He did however have Bobby Flay speak directly about how he feels about the service, and the chef said that he’s excited about it because he “get(s) to be in basically any kitchen in the world, anywhere in the world, and I can teach people anywhere in the world how to cook.” Plus, he noted that it’ll have something like 80,000 recipes on board at launch.

This could be huge for Amazon, especially as it seeks to distinguish itself among the growing number of smart screen devices for use in the home. As it ramps up other efforts around health and fitness, too, this could be a key component.

BetterCloud started out as a way to add a missing operations layer on top of Google G Suite. Later it added support for other SaaS tools, and last year it built an API, so developers could build integrations on top of BetterCloud. Today, it announced a new Integration Center, a place where users can build and share integrations with the community.

Last year’s API announcement was really aimed at developers building integrations for a particular company. Today’s announcement is about sharing connectors and having a central place to exchange them, says BetterCloud’s chief product officer, Jim Brennan.

“We’re launching the new BetterCloud Integration Center, which is a single place for users to discover, install and configure any integration. Those integrations can be built by us, or now they can also be the integrations built by the community, because our users now have the ability to share anything they’ve built using that API [we announced last year],” Brennan explained.

In addition to having a place to exchange the integrations, the company has tried to make it easier to build them by offering step-by-step approach for those who need it, while leaving power users to use the API. Brennan says that original API involves more intensive developer knowledge, while also requiring you to go to a separate developer portal. The new experience is not only simpler, it’s also integrated right inside BetterCloud.

To show how these integrations work, the company is including 32 integrations out of the box with today’s announcement to such popular services as Zoom, Atlassian, GitHub, PagerDuty, Intercom, AWS, Tableau, Duo, Splunk and Datadog.

BetterCloud was founded in 2011. It has raised almost $107 million, according to Crunchbase data. Its most recent round was a $60 million Series E led by Bain Capital Ventures in 2018.

Starting today, there really is an Echo Show for every need. In amongst this morning’s deluge of Alexa hardware, Amazon announced yet another version of the smart screen. As the name implies, the Echo Show 8 is an eight inch version of the device — one that looks an awful lot like an upscaled version of the recently introduced Echo Show 5.

The new model borrows the better audio from the 10 inch flagship and also sports a built-in privacy shutter — something lacking in the Google Nest Hub Max that honestly ought to be standard in any smart home device with a built-in camera.

Aside from real estate, we didn’t get much information on the distinctions between the 10 and 8, but undercutting the competition is the name of the game this morning, and as such, the Echo Show 8 will be priced at an extremely reasonable $129.

Preorders for the device open today and Amazon expects that it will start shipping ahead of the holidays.