Weekly#373

“…SARS-CoV-2 has a mutation rate of less than 25 mutations per year, compared with influenza’s mutation rate of almost 50 mutations per year, according to an analysis by computational biologists of the Nextstrain consortium…” (WSJ)
EU data portal launches to support COVID-19 research
Apple Mobility Trends Reports
Google Mobility Reports
“…In general, emerging use-cases for 5G can be classed into two groups: those requiring a low latency round-trip time between device and application service (e.g. cloud gaming, server-side video rendering and deep learning) and those characterized by localized/site-bound application deployment (e.g. Industry 4.0, controller software for machines, sensors and actuators in factories)…”
It’s time to build by Marc Andreessen
15.77 million paid net additions. That brings Netflix’s total paid subscriber count to 182.86 million
AWS and Facebook launch an open-source model server for PyTorch
How Covid-19 is making millions of Americans Healthier
Air quality is way better in nine major cities after coronavirus confinement
What future do airlines have? Three experts discuss
Five EU countries call for 100% renewable energy by 2050
Peloton May Feel the Recessionary Burn (WSJ)
Bill Gates: The first modern pandemic & the scientific advances we need to stop COVID-19.
Germany’s COVID-19 contacts tracing app to link to labs for test result notification
First version of Apple and Google’s contact tracing API should be available to developers next week
AWS launches Amazon AppFlow, its new SaaS integration service
“...Airbnb’s home page is suddenly very focused on three things — online experiences, monthly stays and what you’re calling “frontline,” which is an area for hosts to offer housing to healthcare staff and first responders…“
Telegram hits 400M monthly active users
“…Amazon’s private-label business encompasses more than 45 brands with some 243,000 products, from AmazonBasics batteries to Stone & Beam furniture… …39% of U.S. online shopping occurs on Amazon, according to research firm eMarketer……The majority of Amazon’s sales—58%—come through third-party sellers, primarily small and medium-size firms that list their items for sale on Amazon’s Marketplace platform.”WSJ (Paywall)
The World Bank predicts global remittances will fall by 20% this year
Google’s Flutter: 2 million developers
Boston Dynamics open-sources health care robotics toolkit for telemedicine, vitals inspection, and disinfection

Weekly#372

How COVID-19 Has Impacted Media Consumption, by Generation
A global view of how consumer behavior is changing amid COVID-19
Luke Wroblewski: Covid-19 Global Impact Charts
The Coronavirus Economic Reopening Will Be Fragile, Partial and Slow (paywall)
100 Things a UX/UI Designer Should Know
Verizon is buying B2B videoconferencing firm BlueJeans
Amazon Retools With Unusual Goal: Get Shoppers to Buy Less Amid Coronavirus Pandemic (paywall)
Instacart is expanding Costco pharmacy deliveries nationwide
How Artificial Intelligence Will Shape Design by 2050
Google Meet video calls are getting a Zoom-like layout
For the Foreseeable Future, U.K. Parliament May Meet in Cyberspace
70 coronavirus vaccines in development, 3 candidates already undergoing human trials: WHO
Coronavirus: Raspberry Pi-powered ventilator to be tested in Colombia
The Supermarket After the Pandemic
Assessing Coronavirus’s Impact on Your Business Model
Goldman predicts 36% drop in iPhone shipment
New Jersey needs volunteers who know COBOL, a 60-year-old programming language
Stores try to stay relevant while their doors are closed
COVID-19 Pivot examples
Trendwatching: COVID Innovations
Leaked pics reveal Google smart debit card to rival Apple’s
Smart lifts, lonely workers, no towers or tourists: architecture after coronavirus

Weekly#371

How coronavirus is shifting consumer behaviour and attitudes in China
FT: Yuval Noah Harari: the world after coronavirus
Pinterest makes it much easier to buy what you see
Walmart Grocery app sees record downloads amid COVID-19, surpasses Amazon by 20%
Pepper, a platform for restaurants and suppliers, pivots to deliver food to consumers
Disney+ has more than 50M subscribers
Airbnb rolls out new features aimed at its next big bet: longer-term stays
Google expands AI calling service Duplex to Australia, Canada, and the UK
Apple, Google team up on coronavirus contact tracing
Microsoft says video calls in Teams grew 1,000% in March
People Are Open-Sourcing Their Patents and Research to Fight Coronavirus
White House advisor Dr Fauci says handshaking needs to stop even when pandemic ends—other experts agree
iOS 14: Apple developing ‘Clips’ feature for using apps without requiring full downloads
The Humble Phone Call Has Made a Comeback…”…Verizon said it was now handling an average of 800 million wireless calls a day during the week, more than double the number made on Mother’s Day…”
All Microsoft events will be digital-only until July 2021
“…And in the long run, the firms that survive will have to master a new environment as the crisis and the response to it accelerate three trends:
- an energising adoption of new technologies
- an inevitable retreat from freewheeling global supply chains
- a worrying rise in well-connected oligopolies…” (paywall)

Weekly#370

Google Maps Community Mobility Reports (Thanks to Önder)
Spotify and Warner Music Group have renewed their global licensing partnership
Mobile app spending to double by 2024, despite economic impacts of COVID-19
Our Post-Covid World
WSJ: Instagram Encroaches on Amazon With New Shopping Feature (paywall)
How Many Jobs Can be Done at Home?
Apple’s iOS 14 may turn iCloud Keychain into a true 1Password and LastPass competitor
Ford, GE plan to produce 50,000 ventilators in 100 days
775 per cent increase in usage of Microsoft Azure cloud services
Modern meteorology was born 60 years ago today
SoftBank is letting internet satellite company OneWeb file for bankruptcy
Scott Kelly on isolation
The US Army’s Virus Research Lab Gears Up to Fight Covid-19
Coronavirus Ended the Screen-Time Debate. Screens Won
Apple buys weather app Dark Sky
Ikea acquires AI imaging startup Geomagical Labs to supercharge room visualisations
Apple accidentally confirms the existence of an unreleased product, AirTags
Peloton launches an Android TV app
In a depressing turn of events, one group of hosts still receiving bookings through Airbnb are those offering properties close to hospitals. FT (paywall)
“...An epidemic poses special challenges to face-to-face retail…In normal times, “60 cents of every food dollar spent in New York City is spent in restaurants,” he says. “Let me say that again: 60% of the food eaten in New York is made by restaurants…There will be the next generation of packaging…” WSJ (paywall)