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Fall is the Season for the Rise of Hardware
11 Sep, 2020
5 min read
I have to admit, I have fought with my printer. It’s a simple device, in theory, but getting it to print something how I want it printed has always been a challenge. In 2020, the answer to that comes from Amazon. No one is surprised.
Amazon Echo devices now have Alexa Print commands. So printing is as simple as saying, “Alexa print xyz”. I am on board. With everyone at home, working and studying, at-home printing has increased. If your kids need their worksheets printed or if you need your shopping list printed, you don’t need to fight with the printer every couple hours.
Android 11 is finally here and the announcement barely made a splash. It came on the same day that Apple sent invites for their annual September event for the 15th.
Android 11 comes with 3 big changes, but those aren’t new things so much as they are a better design of the old, necessary things. A power button interface that holds your connection with the outside world with your wallet and smart home access. Priority for conversations in the notifications and otherwise with chat bubbles to make messaging a breeze. And a much more disciplined incline towards privacy controls.
I want to tell you more about it but I have a Motorola Android One phone and I haven’t received the update yet. No matter how good Android gets, not everyone will be able to see it at once and it is one of the biggest gripes about it. This year Android 11 dropped on more than just Pixel devices but still it is still not a significant number or a significant variant range.
LG has an event on Monday, the 14th of September where it will be launching a phone with a new form factor called the LG Wing. It has a swiveling screen. With the second year of much improved folding phones coming, this one is again a fresh wave of design. The era of glass and metal slabs may just be close to ending. And I say close to ending because not everyone can go buy experimental expensive phones and not everyone should.
The fun and challenging part of all these changes means that companies like ours that make apps for this software are never going to get bored. There are always new avenues to be explored.
That stands true for not only apps but also for providing voice command actions or skills for smart speakers and displays. The more common these devices become, the more businesses will want to and have to be available on them. They will have to give the customer the service where they want it. And businesses like ours will work to make it possible. After all, when you are in the tech industry, you have to keep exploring and going forward.
Techtember is in full swing. Coronavirus may have affected the manufacturing times and more, but our natural need for innovation has hardly been dampened. Fall is the season for the rise of hardware.
