MobileVillage (MV) & Appcelerator (APP) bring you a quick read of the month’s biggest mobile apps news & mobile tech news. In this mobile news roundup: new 2018 MacBook Pros, $399 Surface Go tablet, Microsoft Whiteboard, free Microsoft Teams, WhatsApp limits forwarding, Amazon Part Finder, AR perceptions & apps, VR awards nominations, Plex VR sharing, eXP Realty VR workspaces, Humaneyes Vuze XR, new Tilt Brush VR painting tool, Unreal Engine 4.2, EU fines Google $5 billion, Microsoft earnings, Meitu controversy & more.
New 13, 15-inch 2018 MacBook Pros with with TouchBar
Apple has updated its flagship 13-inch with TouchBar and 15-inch MacBook Pro with TouchBar. Although the new 2018 MacBook Pros have the same exterior, they offer big upgrades inside: even faster Intel 8th gen “Coffee Lake” processors, up to 4TB of SSD storage (15-inch model), “TrueTone” self-adjusting color sensors, a new (3rd generation) quieter keyboard, and Apple’s T2 chip that brings you secure boot, realtime encryption, and Siri queries.
The 13-inch 2018 MacBook Pro has been upgraded to quad core, and you can choose Intel i5 or i7—up to 2.7 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 4.5 GHz and double the eDRAM. That’s paired with Intel Iris Plus integrated graphics 655 with 128MB of eDRAM, for power efficiency. The new 13-inch starts at US$1,799.
The new 15-inch 2018 MacBook Pro gets the biggest power boost, promising up to 70% faster speeds than before. It now has Radeon Pro discrete graphics with 4GB of video memory on all configurations, and a hexa (six) core processor, with options for Intel i7 and Core i9 processors up to 2.9 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 4.8 GHz. The new 15-inch starts at $2,399.
Apple did not announce updates to its 12-inch MacBook, 13-inch MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro without TouchBar, but may do so this fall. The new 2018 MacBooks also do not have a new design, OLED or edge-to-edge display, or TrueDepth cameras. So for those, you’ll have to stick with the iPad Pro and iPhone X.
Both new 2018 MacBook Pros are available now on Apple.com, Apple stores, and resellers. For more 2018 MacBook Pro details, photos and hands-on videos, see Engadget, iMore, Laptop, and MacWorld. — MV
New Microsoft Surface Go tablet is $399
Microsoft has launched a new attack in the war for relatively cheap tablet customers—the new $399 Surface Go is the company’s smallest and cheapest 10-inch tablet. At a glance the Go doesn’t look that much different than the Surface 3, but the 10-inch screen is almost a full inch smaller, at .52 kg or 1.15 pounds (vs the iPad’s .47 kg or 1.03 lbs.), the Surface Go is a quarter-pound lighter than the Surface 3. For consumers, the Surface Go comes with Windows 10 S, but you can easily switch to Windows 10. Business users get Windows 10 Pro, but IT admins can also configure the tablets to run in S mode.
The Surface Go is powered by a dual-core, four-thread Intel Pentium Gold 4415Y processor. Although that’s a 7th-generation Intel chip (vs current 8th gen), it’s still around 30 percent faster than the Surface 3’s quad-core Atom processor, according to Microsoft. You can choose from either 4GB of RAM and 64GB eMMC storage to start, or 8GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD for $549. There’s also an LTE Surface Go coming later this year, as well as a variant with a 256GB SSD. There’s also USB-C and a microSD card slot tucked underneath the kickstand, which lets you expand the storage. For more Surface Go details and photos, head to Engadget. — MV
Microsoft Whiteboard + free Microsoft Teams released
Microsoft Whiteboard is now out of preview, available for Windows 10, and coming soon to iOS. The Whiteboard app (pictured here) enables people to work together both in person and remotely, across multiple devices. Using pen, touch, and keyboard, you can jot down notes, create tables and shapes, freeform drawings, and search and insert images from the web. The Microsoft blog has more details and a download link.
Also, Microsoft’s Slack competitor Teams business collaboration app now has a free version. The free Microsoft Teams version is available worldwide in 40 languages, supports up to 300 users, and offers unlimited chat messages and search capabilities. You also get 10GB of team file storage plus 2GB per person for personal storage. The free Microsoft Teams version offers built-in audio and video calling for individuals, groups, and full teams; integrated Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote apps; and unlimited integrations with more than 140 business apps such as Evernote and Trello. PC Magazine has more details and a review link. — MV
WhatsApp limits forwarding, especially in India
WhatsApp is now limiting the number of times all users can forward any message, photo or video. Unless you’re in India, you’ll now be able to forward messages or media to just 20 people, though that will be limited to only five times in India. The previous limit was over 250 times. And for India, WhatsApp also removed its “quick forward” button for media messages.
The changes are in response to criticism about app users spreading fake news and accusations that fueled mob violence in India and Myanmar, which “horrified” WhatsApp, according to a company spokesperson. Though in its blog announcement, the company simply said the change “will help keep WhatsApp the way it was designed to be: a private messaging app.” WhatsApp says that it’s “testing” the changes, so they may not last forever. — MV
Amazon Part Finder can find the right hardware
Got a screw, nut, bolt, washer or fastener you need to buy more of, but no idea to how to find the right one? If you have an iPhone and the Amazon app, the new Amazon Part Finder feature can help. You can find Part Finder by tapping the Camera button next to the search box in the app. Amazon Part Finder then shows you how to point your camera at the item and scan it, so Amazon can show you matching items from its catalog.
Amazon Part Finder was built using technology developed by Partpic, which Amazon bought in 2016. TechCrunch has more details and a review. — MV
AR field service apps
ZDnet has posted a short feature about how Caterpillar, BP and Europe’s Engie are using augmented reality apps to improve field service efficiency and customer service. See the story here. — MV
AR study hints at how people prefer to use AR
If you’ve created or are creating an AR app or feature, you might benefit from taking a few minutes to read the results from VentureBeat’s new study focused on how consumers perceive AR. The research study included two groups of 20 people with varying awareness of augmented reality. Objectives included: exploring perceptions when it comes to augmented reality and its definition, relevance, and uncovering use cases for augmented reality currently in the market and those that have the potential to be developed. VentureBeat posted the details and results here. — MV
VR awards nominations announced
It’s been an exciting month for VR fans and creators, with VR apps and media being nominated in both the US Emmy Awards and in VR Bound’s annual VR Awards. This year, there are seven VR Emmy nominees, including Coco VR and Spider-Man Homecoming VR. You can see the video trailers for all seven here. VR Bound’s VR Awards now has 11 categories, with numerous nominees in each. You can see all VR Awards nominees listed here.
Do you have your own favorite VR experiences? Whether or not they’ve been nominated above, you can nominate your favorite VR educational app/experience, VR game, VR innovator, and non-VR apps for our own 2018 Mobile Star Awards program. It takes just seconds, via our simple online nomination form. — MV
Plex VR sharing now lets you share with friends
Plex VR, the free VR viewer that lets you stream locally stored media to your Gear VR, Oculus Go, or Google Daydream headset, has a new sharing feature. Called ‘Watch Together’, the Plex VR social viewing feature lets you watch and share your own TV and movies with up to three other people. The mode also includes voice chat and a dedicated avatar maker. Road to VR has more details. — MV
eXp Realty innovates with VR workspaces
The publicly-traded real estate company eXp Realty was born 10 years ago after the real estate crash, but is now valued at over a billion dollars, thanks to its use of an online virtual world similar to Second Life. That means every employee, contractor, and the company’s thousands of agents show up to work—team meetings, training seminars, onboarding sessions—all inside a campus of VR workspaces.
This VR workspaces tech has made eXp go viral. In the past six months, eXp has doubled their number of real estate agents, to over 12,000 agents operating in more than 300 markets across the US and Canada. And since last October, eXp Realty’s stock price has surged more than 300 percent. For more on how the company is using VR workspaces to save employees time and save the world energy, see SingularityHub. — MV
Humaneyes Vuze XR = VR + 360° camera
Humaneyes Technologies has announced a follow-up to its Vuze VR camera, one that captures both 360° (2D) and stereoscopic VR180 (3D) videos and photos. The Vuze XR camera, which will cost around $400 when it launches later this year, is basically two cameras in one. When it’s closed, it’s a 360° camera, but you can click a button to convert the device into a camera that supports Google’s new VR180 technology. The Vuze XR also has built-in livestreaming, so you can share video to social media in real time. For details about Vuze XR and VR180, venture over to VentureBeat. — MV
Unreal Engine 4.2 brings AR, VR improvements
Epic Games’ Unreal Engine developer suite is now out in version 4.20, with loads of updates. For VR, the new version brings native mixed reality video compositing for VR applications, and an update to a much newer Oculus SDK. On the AR front, UE 4.20 adds supports for Apple’s ARKit 2.0 and Google’s ARCore 1.2, along with Magic Leap support. For details on each of these updates, detour over to Road To VR. — MV
Google’s latest Tilt Brush a “game changer” for VR artists
If you’re an expert or novice VR artist, you’ll be excited to try the latest version of Google’s Tilt Brush VR painting app. The app has a new “hull brush” tool that lets you instantly create 3D, volumetrically painted objects, instead of having to paint or ‘color in’ every surface of a 3D object as as in previous versions. The new hull brush tool fills in your objects using your control points as you move your Rift or Vive controller through 3D space, so with a single gesture, you can create a truly 3D object. Engadget has all the details. — MV
Niantic aquires Seismic Games
Niantic, which makes Pokémon GO and Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, is acquiring Seismic Games, best known for its work on Marvel: Strike Force, a mobile, turn-based RPG that has players build battle teams made up of all the big names from the Marvel comic universe. Niantic is on a buying spree, having bought Escher Reality back in February and Matrix Mill back in June. As TechCrunch notes, it makes sense for Niantic to acquire a team that can create enough new content to keep players happy, while being careful to not to violate any intellectual property laws. The companies have not announced terms of the deal. — MV
EU fines Google $5 billion for stifling competition
Europe has imposed a record-setting €4.3 billion ($5 billion) fine on Google for antitrust violations around its Android OS. In 2016, the EU Commission charged Google with forcing mobile network operators to install Chrome, search and other Google apps as the default or exclusive search service on most devices sold in Europe. With a market share of over 80 percent in many countries, Google effectively locked others out of the search market, says the commission. Engadget has all the details. — MV
Microsoft earnings: double-digit growth
Microsoft has reported earnings for its fourth fiscal quarter of 2018, with double-digit year-over-year growth for all three of its operating groups. Microsoft reported revenue of $30.1 billion, net income of $8.9 billion, and earnings per share of $1.14, as compared to revenue of $23.3 billion, net income of $6.5 billion, and earnings per share of $0.83 in Q4 2017. For the fiscal year, Microsoft blew past $100 billion in revenue, which shows success in the company’s efforts to offer more cloud-based products. VentureBeat has details and analysis. — MV
Inside Meitu: Controversial features & workplace war zones
Finally, Business Insider takes a hard look at Meitu, the Chinese company behind the popular selfie editing app of the same name. Despite Meitu attracting a huge 2017 valuation as Hong Kong’s biggest tech IPO in a decade, opening offices overseas and attracting hundreds of millions of users, Meitu has yet to turn a profit. What’s worse, the company has faced controversy over some of its a filters, allegations of sexism, employee shamings, and a brutal workplace culture. Business Insider has the whole story. — MV
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This mobile news roundup is by MobileVillage Editor Gary Thayer and Erin Bailey of Appcelerator, a top mobile development platform company. Want your news featured in ‘Mobile Month’? Please check out our guidelines. We give preference to mobile news about trends, innovations, major app updates, big players and official Mobile Star Awards Entrants.
Trending mobile news tags this issue: 2018 MacBook Pros, Surface Go tablet, Microsoft Whiteboard, free Microsoft Teams, WhatsApp forwarding, Amazon Part Finder, AR perceptions & apps, VR awards nominations, Plex VR sharing, eXP Realty VR workspaces, Humaneyes Vuze XR, Google Tilt Brush VR painting tool, Unreal Engine 4.2, EU fines Google $5 billion, Microsoft earnings, Meitu controversy
