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Netflix Launches “Max,” A Goofy Virtual Assistant To Help With Recommendations, Available Now On PS3, iPad Next Week
Netflix this morning announced its own take on virtual assistants like the iPhone’s Siri, with the debut of “Max,” an on-screen guide for the Netflix app on PlayStation 3 devices which helps you find new movies or TV shows to watch. And yes, the guide does talk to you, but thankfully has yet to manifest itself in some more corporeal format, like Microsoft’s “Bob.”
Instead, Max – which Netflix says is “rumored to be the child of Siri and HAL 9000″ – will ask you a few questions about your mood or movie and TV show tastes in order to make a recommendation, while also taking into account your interests as already understood by Netflix’s algorithms.
Max also offers a game show-like experience called “The Ratings Game,” where users can pick a genre that fits your mood, and then Netflix – err, Max – runs through a few titles you might like and has you rate them on a 5-star scale.
After gaining a better understanding of your interests, Max may offer personalized suggestions after asking only one question. In an example provided by Netflix on its blog, Max asks if you prefer “monkeys” or “UFOs” to make its – err, his – recommendations. And at other times, Max will simply make a suggestion, no Q&A involved.
All the while, Max speaks to interact with you using a goofy, “I’m a game show host!,” type of voice. (You can almost imagine him saying, “no, I’m sorry, the correct answer was ‘UFO’s', it’s back to zero for you.”)
Netflix has been experimenting with Max for some time, having first been spotted last summer in the form of an app update for some PS3 owners. At the time, there was no word as to whether Netflix would be rolling out Max to the full PS3 network, or to other gaming consoles or Netflix platforms.
Today, however, Netflix seems to be making a broader commitment to this silly assistant, promising “we’ll expand his repertoire and make him available on other devices in the future, likely the iPad next.”
Unfortunately (???), Max will only be available to U.S. users for now, through a gradual rollout over the upcoming weeks.
Android 4.3 Available To Test For Adventurous Galaxy S4 Owners
Google’s worst-kept secret is the upcoming Android 4.3 update for devices powered by its mobile OS (though a lot more secrets have come to light recently), and we’re starting to see that update make its way to the handsets of owners who aren’t afraid to experiment. SamMobile reports this morning that Android 4.3 has been spotted on both the Google Play Edition and the Snapdragon-powered Galaxy S4, and should work fine on both for users who aren’t afraid to mess around with flashing their ROM and voiding their warranty.
Android 4.3 was first spotted by SamMobile running on the Snapdragon Galaxy S4, which is a version that’s normally running Samsung’s own modified Google OS. Screens depicted an updated camera interface, as well as some other interface tweaks, but by and large the look of 4.3 is very similar to the look of 4.2, the current version of Jelly Bean and the latest officially acknowledged by Google.
Google may not have come out and admitted that 4.3 is in the works, but test builds have been spotted on Nexus 4 hardware as early as a month ago, and I’ve heard from people close to the project that the Android team has been hard at work on the latest update for a while now and continues to make refinements ahead of its public launch.
Google didn’t talk about Android 4.3 at I/O this year, as some expected it would. The developer-focused event was very developer focused this year, and an announcement of a new version of its mobile OS may have attracted attention away from the things it did discuss. Plus, if 4.3 is mostly an improvement and maintenance update like it appears to be, a big reveal might not be what Google is looking for here.
For those of you with a Galaxy S4, either the Snapdragon variant or one of the shiny new Google Edition versions, getting the preview build on your device is pretty easy, and you can find instructions here. Reports claim that all the parts work, too, which is a nice change for pre-release software.
A Quarter Of US Consumers Has Heard Of Bitcoin - And The Majority Of Them Trust It
Depending on your view, Bitcoin is either A) an elaborate Ponzi scheme or B) the currency of the future. Or, if you’re the average man on the street, it’s probably C) something you’ve never heard of. Putting a bit of data behind attitudes to the emergent crypto currency that’s got VCs all excited is a new slice of research conducted by survey firm On Device in conjunction with the organisers of an upcoming London-based Bitcoin conference.
The firm surveyed more than 22,000 U.S. consumers in May 2013 to test Bitcoin awareness and levels of trust at this still relatively early stage in its development. Bitcoin went live on the web in 2009, but in currency terms that still makes it a bawling babe. Add in its distinguishing features — being the first decentralised digital currency — plus ongoing teething issues with infrastructure, and political and legal uncertainties, and nascent is the obvious moniker to describe it. Fragile as a house of cards might be another worthy descriptor. But everything has to start somewhere. And Bitcoin has weathered a fair few ups and downs already in its short history.
So what do U.S. consumers make of Bitcoin right now? Well, according to the survey, just over a quarter (25.3%) have heard of the crypto currency — which means the U.S. is lagging the other two countries also surveyed for the poll, Argentina and the U.K. In those nations, Bitcoin awareness is apparently in the region of a third, with 37.9% and 32.2% Bitcoin-aware respondents respectively. However it’s worth flagging that the research polled far fewer consumers in Argentina and the U.K. (760 and 2,731, respectively) so the margin of error is likely to be higher.
When it comes to trusting Bitcoin, U.S. consumers also lag their Argentinian and British counterparts, but trust levels are still apparently running high among U.S. Bitcoin-aware. The survey found 62% of U.S. consumers who are Bitcoin-aware said they trust the currency, vs 73% of Bitcoin-aware Argentinians and 69% of Bitcoin-aware Brits. Greater awareness of Bitcoin appears to help foster greater levels of trust, as you might expect.
Trust in Bitcoin is still relatively low when compared to trust in national currencies. Again, as you would expect. Bitcoin is the upstart in the room, and isn’t backed by any centralised institutions like national banks — which may also, paradoxically, be helping to boost trust in the currency. The global financial crisis has knocked consumer confidence in traditional, centralised economic institutions and governments so a currency that stands outside the control of the establishment may appear more trustworthy to some. Backing up that stick-it-to-The-Man view, the largest group of Argentinian respondents (44%) said the best thing about Bitcoin is ‘not having to deal with financial institutions’. So banks bad, Bitcoin good.
Unsurprisingly, Argentinians also come out on top as most likely to trust Bitcoin more than their national currency — but being as their currency has been less stable than the U.S. dollar in recent history, that’s to be expected. The old paper money hasn’t fared well enough to make trying something virtual seem massively risky.
The Bitcoin survey found that around a fifth (22%) of Bitcoin-aware Argentinians trust Bitcoin more than their own national currency (while close to half — 48% — rated the two the same). The U.S. was next most trusting of Bitcoin, with 16% trusting Bitcoin more than the dollar. But by far the largest proportion (47%) of U.S. respondents trust it less than the dollar. The U.K. has similarly low levels of Bitcoin trust vs national currency: with 14% trusting Bitcoin more than Sterling and 48% trusting it less.
On the question of whether Bitcoin is the currency of the future, the survey found relatively high levels of belief in its future potential across the board. Argentina came out on top — with approaching half (46%) of those polled affirming a key future role for Bitcoin. But U.S. and U.K. respondents were also relatively positive about Bitcoin’s prospects, with more than a third (38%) apiece saying they believe it is the currency of tomorrow. The U.S. does also contain the largest group of Bitcoin naysayers, though — with almost a quarter (24%) of respondents saying they do not think Bitcoin will take up that central future role.
What about reasons for liking Bitcoin? In the U.S. and the U.K. the most popular response when asked about the best thing about Bitcoin is that “it’s quick and convenient” — cited by 36% and 43% respectively.
Opinions on the worst thing about Bitcoin varied more, with the largest proportion (34%) of respondents from Argentina saying the biggest drawback is “minimal use in trade” — again suggesting that Bitcoin interest there is fuelled by lower levels of trust in a national currency and by a desire to find a replacement for everyday currency, rather than being so fuelled by Bitcoin’s potential as an investment vehicle.
In the U.K. the largest single complaint — cited by just under a third (30%) of respondents — was about Bitcoin’s volatile exchange rate, suggesting Bitcoin interest there is being fuelled more by investors than people who actually want to use Bitcoin to buy goods and services. While, in the U.S., the two most commonly stated reasons to dislike Bitcoin (cited by 29% apiece) were ‘minimal use in trade’ and ‘you can’t physically hold a Bitcoin’. The latter suggesting a purely digital currency still has a way to go to get people to place their trust in it.
What about the sort of things are people using Bitcoin to buy? Turns out electrical items are a popular choice, along with computer software/hardware and entertainment goods like DVDs.
The majority of respondents in all three countries pegged their annual Bitcoin spending on goods and services as sub-$999, with 74% of Argentinian respondents reporting that level of spending, and 73% apiece in the U.S. and U.K.
BlackBerry Shipped Just 2.7M BB10 Handsets In Q1 2014
BlackBerry didn’t break out its individual BB10 device sales in its quarterly earnings report released earlier this morning, but during its conference call to discuss its performance CEO Thorsten Heins revealed that it shipped 2.7 million handsets during the quarter, which is not a great number. Nokia shipped 5.6 million Lumia devices in Q1 of 2013, for instance, and AT&T reported 4.8 million iPhone activations alone during its Q1 reporting.
BlackBerry shipped 6.8 million phones in total during the quarter, so the new BB10 devices represented just under 40 percent of total new device sales. The total number of devices shipped was already fairly unimpressive, but it’s perhaps more worrying that BB10 made up a big chunk of those sales, despite the Q10 only being available in most areas for a fraction of the quarterly period. This also marks the first full quarter of sales for the flagship Z10, so it’s really the first true barometer of the health of that device available to investors and observers.
Here, then, is the problem: The Z10 has been available for a full quarter in its primary target markets, and with a device like that, launch is generally your most successful period over the entire device life cycle, since you have the most buzz and consumer attention (perhaps barring a holiday bump). Analysts will not look kindly at 2.7 million in sales for a brand new operating system, which is probably further divided between the Z10 and the Q10.
Already, BlackBerry stock is suffering a huge hit, down 24 percent ahead of market open. That’s not likely to turn around now that we have a better idea of how RIM’s big bet on a brand new mobile operating system is faring in terms of consumer sales.
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