Do You Know What Happened In Tech The Week Of May 23?
New smartphones, Google wins a trial, and the tragic loss of our favorite Snapchat filters.
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1. New smartphone
Google just announced its newest smartphone, which will be available to developers later this year, and consumers next year. What is it called?
FoneFlexusAraRazrIt's Project Ara.
Ara is a phone that can be rebuilt in many different ways, and reassembled easily. It’s kind of like a smartphone made out of Legos. People are very excited it's on its way, a few years after it was first announced.
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2. Trial
Thinkstock
This week, Google emerged victorious after a two-week trial to determine whether the search giant had infringed on another company's intellectual property by lifting code for its Android operating system. What legacy tech company took Google to court?
Via Salesforce Via Salesforce
Via Oracle Via Oracle
Via Apple Via Apple
Via IBM Via IBMIt's Oracle.
The company founded by Larry Ellison accused Google of lifting 11,500 lines of code from its APIs and integrating them directly into its Android operating system. The jury ruled this week that Google's use of the code was fair use, and would not be held liable in the case.
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3. Twitter
Twitter made some changes to its 140-character limit this week. What WON'T count against the limit now?
GIFsVideo@names, in some casesAll of the aboveIt's all of the above.
In a slightly confusing arrangement, Twitter allowed attachments, some @ mentions, and multimedia to not count against its normal 140 character limit.
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4. Snapchat
Ellen Cushing / BuzzFeed
For one day this week, Snapchat disabled all of its filters, including the immensely popular face-swap, dog face, and flower crown. They were disabled for an advertising takeover, courtesy of a new blockbuster. What movie took our filters away?
Via Marvel Captain America: Civil WarVia Marvel
Via Warner Bros. The Nice GuysVia Warner Bros.
Via 20th Century Fox X-Men: ApocalypseVia 20th Century Fox
Via Disney The Jungle BookVia DisneyIt's X-Men: Apocalypse.
On Monday, Disney paid for a full takeover of Snapchat's selfie lenses, replacing the immensely popular filters with characters from the X-Men franchise. The response from users was mixed.
Via Jessica Misener / BuzzFeed
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5. Pebble
Pebble
This week, smartwatch manufacturer Pebble announced two new smartwatches. With it came a different product — a small cube called the Pebble Core. What does it do?
Measures your heartrateLets you pay for things without a credit cardStreams Spotify, like a weird iPod ShuffleLivestreams videoIt's for music.
The Core is a cube-shaped accessory that comes with GPS, 3G and Wi-Fi capability, memory, and Bluetooth. Easily clipped onto a shirt collar or waistband, it’s meant for runners who want to leave their phones at home. They can download a Spotify playlist onto the Core, plug in their headphones, and listen to the songs — much like with an iPod Shuffle.
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6. Ride-hailing
Getty
One of the many ride-hailing services announced the a new product this week: Scheduled rides. Instead of ordering the nearest car when you need a ride, this service will let you schedule a ride up to 24 hours in advance. Which company is the first to offer this?
Via Lyft LyftVia Lyft
Via Uber UberVia Uber
Via Gett GettVia Gett
Via Didi Chuxing DidiVia Didi ChuxingIt's Lyft.
Scheduled rides will debut in San Francisco this summer as an experimental feature. Lyft is still figuring out how things like surge pricing will effect rides booked in advance.
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Brendan Klinkenberg is a tech reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in San Francisco.
Contact Brendan Klinkenberg at brendan.klinkenberg@buzzfeed.com.
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