Amaya Toman In our today's summary of the events that took place during the past day, we will talk about Google twice. She introduced in her search engine to the occasion of the release of the Suez Canal, which was hopelessly blocked for several days by the cargo ship Ever Given, a lovely easter egg. The second message is related to the Google Maps application, where Google is introducing other news. But we will also be talking about Spotify, which, like some other companies, is now preparing to compete with the popular Clubhouse with its own audio chat application.
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Vratislav Holub Spotify wants to compete with Clubhouse
While owners of smartphones with the Android operating system are still impatiently waiting for the arrival of the Clubhouse application on their devices, a number of other companies are slowly grinding their teeth at the position of Clubhouse's biggest competitor. Spotify, which operates a music streaming service, is also about to enter the waters of audio chats. The company officially announced yesterday that it is going to buy Betty Labs, the company behind the app Locker room. The Locker Room application is used to play audio versions of sports broadcasts.
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Spotify did not specify how much the acquisition of Betty Labs will cost it. The Locker Room application should continue to remain in the App Store menu, but its name will change. According to Spotify, live audio streams – or audio chat – are the ideal tool for creators who want to interact with their audience in real time. It can be not just a chat as such, but, for example, a discussion on the topics of a newly released album, an event with the possibility of asking questions, or even a live artistic performance. Gustav Söderström, head of research and development at Spotify, said in an interview with The Verge magazine that not only creators, but also ordinary users will have the option of holding live conversations. It is not yet clear when the audio chat application from Spotify will be available to all users, but more detailed information will certainly not be long in coming.
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Easter egg to mark the opening of the Suez Canal
A significant part of the public during the last week and the beginning of this week watched with tension the tragicomic story of the container cargo ship Ever Given, which hopelessly blocked the Suez Canal for several days after running aground. The ship was successfully freed yesterday and sent to other waters for a thorough inspection, but unfortunately it will take some time to resume operations and return to normal. But the very release of the Ever Given ship is clearly very good news, which Google also decided to celebrate properly. You can now discover a fun easter egg in Google search by entering the terms “Suez Canal” and “Ever Given”. We will not reveal it here, so as not to deprive you of a surprise.
Google Maps brings a new feature
On Tuesday, Google officially announced that it is preparing several interesting new functions for its navigation application Google Maps soon. One of them will allow users to orient themselves in some indoor spaces in an augmented reality environment – this is actually an update of the popular Live View AR function, which will now help users better orient themselves in spaces such as airports. Users will be able to more easily find, for example, cafes, shops or even ATMs. The Live View AR function has been available in the Google Maps version for iOS and Android since 2019, but until now it only worked outdoors. Users in Chicago, Long Island, Los Angeles, Newark, San Franciso, San Jose, and Seattle will be among the first to see Live View AR for interiors. In the coming months, this feature will be available at airports, shopping malls and train stations in Tokyo.
