elproducto #37 👉 a weekly round-up of Tech and Product goodness
Trello desktop Apps, New Google Pixel coming, Apple’s new products, Designing for iPhone X, Habit-forming products, Adopting new products & more.
Welcome to a new week full of fresh ideas and innovation at elproducto!
đź“š Good reads
How customers adopt new products? And why wouldn’t they? Stragetgyzer puts in a simple diagram few variables to keep in mind when assessing the potential of new value propositions.
Designing for iPhone X. New phone, new screen, new patterns. And few tips by NIELS in this article.
How Compare and Contrast decisions lead to better product outcomes. Teresa Torres shares her talk at last week’s Mind The Product conference, exploring how to fight against falling in love with our ideas.
How to trigger product usage that sticks. Janet Choi, Senior Manager of Product Marketing and Content at Customer.io, shows some examples of how Apps like Duolingo or Calm manage to keep their users coming back.
đź“° Seen on the news
Trello launches apps for Windows and macOS; lets users set Priority Boards which appear whenever the app is opened; also includes keyboard shortcuts, desktop notifications, and more. Also launched the InVision Power-Up (integration); enables users to attach prototypes to cards, update prototypes, leave comments, check modification records.
Facebook launches group video chat app Bonfire in the Danish App Store; provides Snapchat-like effects, and the ability to share photos from multiple social services; Facebook says the Danish launch is a test.
Video reviews in Google Maps. Local Guides can shoot videos up to 10s long from within the app, and upload videos up to 30s; can use a video as part of a review, e.g. for a restaurant; currently limited to Android; testing a video feature for establishment owners as well.
Google announces Oct 4 for the unveiling of the next Pixel; the company has published a website with the tagline “thinking about changing phones?”; Google launched its current Pixel devices on Oct 4 2016.
Google is set to launch a new payments service in India next week; the product known as Tez is based on Android Pay.
Twitter is set to launch a tweetstorm feature for Android; lets users compose their full text at once, and then automatically breaks it down to several tweets before sending them out.
Microsoft launches My Workspace, an Office 365 toolbar for macOS; lets users access recently opened files, join Skype meetings, preview calendar events.
Pinterest claims 200M monthly active users, up from 100M two years ago and 150M one year ago; roughly half of Pinterest users are outside the US; also announced coming features, including the ability to create boards within boards, essentially a sub-category system.
Amazon plans to launch two new Fire TV models this year; new mid-tier model sits between Stick and the new flagship: a cube with hands-free Alexa support and an IR transmitter for controlling other A/V equipment; both mid- and high-end models support 4K and HDR at 60 fps.
Lyft plans Canadian launch by year’s end; would be the company’s first international market (with Lyft branding); plans to follow up with Australia and New Zealand.
Tesla is set to unveil its all-electric semi truck on Oct 26. Also announced a plan to introduce Superchargers at urban locations; starting with Chicago and Boston, the firm is installing chargers in downtown areas, supermarkets, and shopping centers; capable of delivering 72kw of power, promising a full charge in 45-50 minutes.
Samsung says it plans to launch a foldable Galaxy Note in 2018.
Ford partners with Virginia Tech to test people’s interactions with driverless vehicles; using a driver disguised as a seat, a van has been driven around Arlington, VA; lights placed above the windshield signal to pedestrians, indicating what the car will do next.
Sony partners with Sculpteo to let customers order 3D prints directly from the Xperia XZ1 smartphone; the device features a 3D scanning app that incorporates Sculpteo’s printing services.
🍏 Apple product event announcements
Apple unveils the iPhone X; wireless charging; no physical home button; edge-to-edge, 5.8-inch, OLED Super Retina Display at 2436 x 1125, 458 ppi; supports gestures; Face ID employs face scanning to authenticate users for unlocking, Apple Pay, more; works with third-party apps; features on-board neural engine for specialized machine learning algorithms; 12MP dual camera system with optical image stabilization on back; TrueDepth camera system on front with Portrait Lighting; orders open Oct 27, available Nov 3; starts at $1k.
iPhone 8 and 8 Plus; 4.7- and 5.5-inch displays; wireless charging; new six-core A11 Bionic chip; new three-core Apple-designed GPU, which handles machine learning tasks; 8 features 12MP camera with optical stabilization; 8 Plus features a dual camera system; Plus also features Portrait Lighting effects powered by machine learning; shoots 4K video at 60 fps; optimized for AR; glass on front and back; silver, space gray, and gold finishes; water and dust resistant; 8 and 8 Plus orders open Sept 15, available Sept 22; start at $700 and $800, respectively; iOS 11 launches Sept 19.
Watch Series 3 with built-in cellular connectivity; no phone link required for messaging, calls, data; uses the same number as the owner’s phone; streams Apple Music; Siri can now speak (previously text only); added 70% faster processor, altimeter; case is the same size as Series 2; orders open Sept 15; available Sept 22; $400 with cellular, $330 without; Tim Cook also announced that Apple Watch is now the top-selling watch in the world. WatchOS4 can always display heart rate, and alerts the user of unusual rate and pattern events; features smart activity coaching, a redesigned workout app, new features for swimmers, pairing with exercise equipment.
Apple TV 4K with HDR support; UI redesigned for 4K; features A10X fusion chip, providing double the processor performance of the previous generation; four times the graphics performance; iTunes will sell 4K movies for the same price as HD; already purchased HD videos are automatically upgraded to 4K, HDR; iOS TV app will get live news and sports later this year; the new Apple TV starts at $180; orders open Sept 15, available Sept 22.
AirPods case with wireless charging to launch for $70 in December.
AirPower: a charging mat which will simultaneously charge the new iPhones, Watches, and AirPods; planned to ship next year.
iPhone 8 and iPhone X will support rapid charging over USB-C; Apple promises 0-to-50% charge within 30 minutes; requires a USB-C charger and Lightning cable, sold separately; the 8 and X offer up to 12 hours of internet usage per full charge; the 8 Plus offers 13 hours.
macOS High Sierra will launch on Sept 25; features new file system APFS, Metal 2, VR support, updated Photos app; new Safari can block autoplay videos and tracking tech; Siri learns music preferences and provides recommendations.
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elproducto is a curated selection of Tech&Product happenings within the last few days from a curious and frequently skeptical Product Manager’s perspective.
