Amaya Toman Today's installment of our roundup of the day will be full of hardware and software news. For example, we will look at cuckoos, a printer of sticky notes, a smart kitchen scale from Amazon, or perhaps at new functions that YouTube is going to gradually introduce starting this spring. We will also talk about the possibility of paying for parking and public transport in the Google Maps application.
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Pavel Jelic Cuckoos from Amazon
Do you think cuckoos are a thing of the relatively ancient past? Amazon is of a different opinion, even preparing to launch its own cuckoos. But there is one catch - a sufficient number of people must show interest in them. As part of the program called Build It, Amazon is going to introduce, in addition to the mentioned cuckoos, a printer for adhesive labels and a smart kitchen scale with the ability to send relevant information to the Echo device. All three of these concepts are available for pre-order from Amazon as part of the experimental hardware creation program. All three mentioned devices offer a different level of integration with the Alexa assistant. A sticky note printer capable of printing sticky notes based on voice commands can be pre-ordered for just under $90. The scale, equipped with an LED display, is available for pre-order for less than thirty-five dollars, and the aforementioned cuckoos, with rich customization options and sixty LED bulbs, cost less than eighty dollars in pre-order. The deadline for pre-orders at discounted prices is thirty days, and if the target number of interested parties can be met, the products will see the light of day already this summer.
New YouTube feature
Popular streaming platform YouTube is planning to release a beta version of the Shorts feature this spring, which is supposed to represent competition for the social network TikTok. YouTube announced the news in a post on its official blog, further boasting about the success the Shorts feature has had in India, where it has been live for several months. The number of Indian channels using the feature has tripled since last December, and the YouTube Shorts player now boasts more than 3,5 billion views per day. The fact that YouTube is working on its own competition for TikTok has been talked about since April last year, but the function was first put into operation only in September, precisely in India.
It's understandable that YouTube is trying to make Shorts available to all creators in the shortest amount of time possible. Despite a number of controversies and affairs, TikTok is gaining more and more popularity, and the operators of other social networks are worried about a certain outflow of users. But the Shorts feature is not the only innovation that YouTube is about to launch soon. There should also be new sources of income for creators, such as a one-time applause effect that users can pay for and appreciate the work of their favorite authors. Applause will be paid for, and creators will always get a percentage of that amount. Another innovation that YouTube is going to introduce is the function of integrated purchases, which should be launched later this year. The latest news that YouTube mentions on its blog is the chapter feature, which could allow specific timestamps to appear in videos to make it easier to find specific content.
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Paying for public transport and parking in Google Maps
Maximum comfort and minimum effort is a priority for many people these days. App developers who want to make life as easy as possible for users are also well aware of this. Google has now also joined these creators, which wants to add the option of paying for parking and public transport to its Google Maps. At the moment, this application offers integration with the parking payment services Passport and ParkMobile, cooperation will grow over time, as well as the availability of this service. Paying for parking in Apple Maps is currently available to users in select regions in the United States. Over time, Google Maps should also expand the possibility of paying for traveling by public transport and for various transport services.
