Good morning. It’s Thursday, the day before Friday, the day before a long weekend across Australia (unless you live in Victoria, WA or the NT). Let’s get you up to speed.
1. Google’s Search On presentation
Overnight, Google held an event called Search On 22, demonstrating how AI is transforming the company’s products. Google wants to make searching more of a visual experience and is opening up its previously-in-beta feature called ‘Multisearch’, which lets users search with images and text simultaneously. Google also revealed a powerful tool that translates text and contextual background images on pictures, along with a massive, multidimensional update to Google Maps, letting users walk around listed areas online.
2. Amazon’s new device range
Also overnight, Amazon debuted several new devices, including an update to its Fire TV range with a new Fire TV Cube and Alexa Voice Remote Pro, along with four new Echo devices and upgrades to Echo Studio Audio. The company also introduced the Halo Rise, a bedside sleep tracker that uses machine learning to adapt to your sleep patterns and the Kindle Scribe.
3. Advertisers flee Twitter
Moving onto another Silicon Valley giant, and advertisers are fleeing Twitter due to a rash of accounts on the platform peddling child sexual exploitation material. Reuters first reported on Wednesday that major brands discovered their ads had been appearing alongside tweets that were soliciting child abuse materials. The outlet said there were 30 advertisers, including the likes of Walt Disney Company, Coca-Cola, Dyson, NBCUniversal and more that appeared next to the profile pages of Twitter accounts active in selling and soliciting such material.
4. Blade’s director steps down
Bassam Tariq and Marvel Studios are nothing but complimentary towards each other in their notes issued after Tariq’s departure. Due to the shifting nature of the MCU’s production schedule, Tariq has gracefully bowed out of leading the new Blade film. He will remain on as an executive producer, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Blade is scheduled to release in 2023, but other issues have come up since Tariq’s exit.
New report on #Blade 🧛🏿♂️
• Mahershala Ali is frustrated with the process
• Script is only 90 pages long
• Features just two ‘lackluster’ action sequences
• Kevin Feige is said to be ‘spread too thin’
(via @theinsneider) pic.twitter.com/1cGmadPaGd
— Culture Crave 🍿 (@CultureCrave) September 28, 2022
5. NFT sales have lost nearly all their allure
Bloomberg first reported on data hosted in Dune Analytics that showed trading volume for NFTs has gone from $US17 billion ($24 billion in Australia) to just $US466 million ($647 million) from January to September this year. That’s a precipitous 97 per cent drop in just nine months. The data was collected from NFT trading platforms including OpenSea, NFTX, LarvaLabs, LooksRare, SuperRare, Rarible and Foundation. Web3 is going great.
BONUS ITEM: Was Chess champion Magnus Carlsen aided by a set of vibrating anal beads in an early September match? Vice has the buzz, after speaking to software engineer Ron Sijm.
Have a nice Thursday.