Zone’s Ross Basham handpicks and shares the five best new stories on digital trends, experiences and technologies…
1. TikTok sues Trump in frantic bid to avoid ban
TikTok has announced it is suing the US government, accusing the Trump administration of depriving it of due process when the president issued an executive order that will stop the app operating in the US. The order came after Trump’s loud and regular concerns about perceived economic and security threats from China.
TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, has reportedly been in talks to sell off its Western operations in order to avoid a ban, and a lawsuit could buy it more time to make that happen, even if it is unlikely to succeed. With more than 100 million Americans monthly active users of TikTok, a nation holds its breath…
2. Doom and gloom for Zoom is short-lived
By and large, most people seem to have adapted pretty well to remote working, with video-conferencing software ensuring we never have to miss a meeting or a class. But what happens when Zoom — which has a 43% market share in the US — suddenly experiences major outages in North America and parts of Europe?
Well, that happened on Monday and while some people were very annoyed, others were overjoyed. I guess it depends on your attitude to meetings and classes. Fortunately (or unfortunately), about three hours after the problem started, Zoom announced that all systems were fully operational again. Phew!
3. Amazon rolls out AR tool for your furniture
Amazon is rolling out a new AR tool in the US that lets you virtually place multiple furniture items in your room so you can visualise how they would look together. The feature, called Room Decorator, builds on an existing offering called AR View from 2017, which let you place a single virtual item in a room to see if it would fit.
Room Decorator will be available across thousands of furniture products on Amazon, including those from third-party sellers. Users just have to click on a ‘View in your room’ button to get the AR experience. Of course, a range of complementary products will be suggested to help you part with as much money as possible.
4. YouTube robots get busy removing videos
YouTube removed more than 11 million videos between April and June — more than double the amount it removed in the previous quarter — with almost all of them flagged by automated systems. Due to Covid-19, YouTube said it had greatly reduced human review capacity, so decided to ‘over enforce’ using automation.
Usually YouTube relies on automation to flag videos which are then assessed by people, so made sure it had more people staffing the appeals process so unfairly banned videos could be quickly reinstated. Interestingly, only 3% of removals resulted in an appeal, which suggests that the robots are doing a pretty good job.
5. As if nasal swabs aren’t bad enough already
A few weeks ago we featured a robot that cuts your hair, which was scary enough. But this is another level of horror — a robot that gives you a nasal swab to test for Covid-19. Yes, an automated machine sticking a long-handled cotton swab all the way up your nose until it reaches the back of your throat. It’s the stuff of nightmares.
According to makers Brain Navi, automated testing could reduce infections and free up medical staff to tackle more pressing work. Which is fine, but doctors have noted that medical staff aren’t actually in much danger as long as they are wearing PPE, and the robot is slower than humans. Plus, of course, it’s utterly terrifying.
