Google Meet’s live translated captions

Google on Monday said its videoconferencing solution, Meet, supports live translated captions in beta. The feature is designed to help meeting participants communicate better. It translates a spoken language to captions in another language and will support English meetings translated to Spanish, French, Portuguese and German, the tech firm said in a blog post. The feature is available in meetings organised by Google Workspace Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and Teaching & Learning Upgrade users, however, admins have to enrol in the beta to access it, Google added. Once available, users can turn on live translated captions during Meet video calls, from the ‘captions’ option under settings. In another update, Google’s plan to block a popular web tracking tool called “cookies” is anti-competitive, a group of advertisers, publishers and tech companies said in a complaint to EU antitrust regulators.

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Honda’s avatar robot

Honda said it plans to develop an avatar robot to expand the range of human ability virtually without the constraints of time and place. An avatar robot, which can act as a second self of the user, can be used to perform tasks and experience things without being there in person, including the realistic sense of handling objects remotely. It will be equipped with Honda’s multi-fingered hand, which can delicately pick up a small object with the fingertips and has the strength to open a tight jar lid, at the level of the human hand. The company is also working on the further advancement of its original AI-supported remote-control function, which will be used in the robot. Honda intends to start technology demonstration testing of the robot before the end of March 2024, with a vision to put it into practical use in the 2030s, it said. In a separate development, Amazon this week unveiled several devices, including an Alexa-powered home robot, a larger wall-mountable Echo display, a device for kids, a health tracker, and a custom-built Alexa assistant in collaboration with Disney.

Microsoft Teams’ new features

Microsoft has added some new features in Teams to improve the meeting experience. Users can now quickly start a presentation just by clicking the Present in Teams button in PowerPoint. They can also customise how their video feed and content appear with support for presenter mode in Teams Rooms. Additionally, the platform is bringing Teams meeting experience (only audio) to CarPlay for Apple users. Dynamic view, which was introduced earlier this year, now supports both single and dual displays. Further, users can now use the spotlight feature to highlight multiple participants during a meeting, and they can also pin multiple participants to the front of a Teams Room display. Finally, Teams Rooms users can lock a meeting and prevent additional attendees from joining once a meeting has started. This week, Microsoft also said it is revamping Skype app with new calling features and colourful themes in an attempt to breathe new life into its nearly two-decade-old application.

Spotify’s Q&A, Polls features

Spotify has introduced two new capabilities, Q&A and Polls, to help creators and listeners interact more deeply on its platform. These enhancements will make it easier for listeners to engage with the people behind their favourite podcasts and for creators to hear from their fans and listeners, directly on the streaming platform. If a creator has chosen to post a question or poll for a specific episode, listeners will be able to find and respond to the question at the bottom of the episode page from their Spotify mobile app. And, depending on whether the creator chose an open-ended Q&A or a Poll, listeners can follow the prompt to respond in-app. The features are available to all Anchor creators and Spotify listeners around the world, the company said. In a separate development, Netflix bought video game creator Night School Studio and rolled out five mobile gaming titles in select European markets, as it looks to diversify revenue sources amid intensifying competition in the streaming space.

Microsoft tests cloud gaming on consoles

Microsoft has started testing cloud gaming on consoles with some Xbox Insiders and plans on expanding the feature to more Insiders and additional rings over time, it said in a blog post. The randomly selected Alpha Skip-Ahead and Alpha Insiders can play Xbox Game Pass games on their consoles without installing them. The cloud gaming experience allows users to quickly jump into individual gaming as well as online multiplayer sessions using their consoles. The tech giant is also expanding Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta) to four additional countries – Brazil, Mexico, Australia and Japan. Users in these countries will be able to play over 100 Game Pass titles on supported Windows PCs, as well as Android and iOS devices. In another update, Microsoft said it will allow Epic Games, Amazon and other firms to integrate their app stores into its marketplace, giving more options to third-party developers.

Worldwide app revenue surges; downloads fall

Global consumer spending on in-app purchases, premium apps, and subscriptions increased 5.1% to $33.6 billion in the third quarter of 2021, compared to the previous year, according to a report by analytics firm Sensor Tower. The consumer spending surged 18.6% to $12.1 billion on Google Play, and 13.2% to $21.5 billion on App Store, in the September ending quarter. Although, the first-time mobile app installs declined 1.9% to 35.7 billion, across both stores, in the third quarter. App Store installs fell 1.2% to 8.1 billion, and Google Play installs declined 2.1% to 27.6 billion, in the September ending quarter, the report noted. TikTok was the highest-earning, as well as the most downloaded app across both stores globally in the third quarter of 2021. In a separate development, smartphone shipments in the second half of 2021 is expected to grow by only 6% annually, down from the earlier forecast of 9%, according to research firm Counterpoint.

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