Week 42

Surface Event. Here’s a quick recap of last week’s Microsoft Surface Event. The Surface Laptop 5, Surface Pro 9, and Surface Studio 2 were among the biggest announcements, along with Apple iCloud and DALLE-2 integrations. The event went pretty fast, keeping things short and sweet to lead into the Ignite developer event that followed. You can watch the replay here.

SDC22. Later that same day, the Samsung Developer Conference also happened. The keynote focused primarily on smart home technologies, with callouts for SmartThings, Matter compliance, and partnerships with the likes of Google, Philips Hue, and other device makers. Other highlights were integrations with Bixby voice assistant, the launch of the Samsung Gaming Hub, and One UI 5 updates. Catch the keynote replay here.

Meta Connect. Earlier in the week, Meta Connect 2022 also, also happened. As you might have guessed, the company formerly known as Facebook is still leaning hard into the metaverse. The biggest highlights from the event were the $1,500 VR headset Meta Quest Pro, a partnership with Microsoft on workplace tools, and… checks notes …giving avatars legs? Anyways, here’s a look at how their year is going so far. Sorry, no replay to share on this one.

Ask Apple… the new interactive support series for developers launched. It’s not a week in tech news without Apple, so the company introduced a new series featuring interactive Q&As and one-on-one consultations for the developer community. The first round of this ongoing series starts this week, October 17–21, and is available to current members of the Apple Developer Program and Enterprise Program.

Roku IoT. Roku announced their expansion into smart home devices. The company that was originally a video streaming platform is now expanding its footprint into connected devices. Through a partnership with Wyze, it hopes to not only grow marketshare but turn Roku TV into a smart home hub. The new line is available for purchase starting this week.

From the desk of…

I don’t have anything in-depth to get into here this week, but there are a ton of device reviews coming out for the Google Pixel 7, Pixel 7 Pro, and Pixel Watch. I’m sure there will be more this/next week on the Surface Pro 9. But what I’m interested in hearing more about is the Audio Dock that Microsoft kind of glazed over. In one of the scenes, I could have sworn I saw an air gesture used and I want to know more!

Articles

• The biggest announcements from Microsoft’s Surface event (The Verge)
• SDC22 Articles (Samsung Newsroom)
• Here’s what you missed at Meta Connect 2022 (TechCrunch)
• Apple introduces Ask Apple for developers (Apple Newsroom)
• Roku’s new smart home products are just a first step (Fast Company)

Events

(nothing on the radar)

Resources

• [Guidelines] Augmented-Reality Calibration in Mobile Apps: 10 Guidelines (NN/g)
• [Podcast] The Pixel 7 and Google’s new family of devices (Engadget)
• [Report] This Week in Apps #135 - It's a Big Shuffle! (Appfigures)
• [Videos] Mobile Summit 2022 (Women Who Code)