Samuel L. Jackson + Alexa + a Ring + Glasses
Stretch out those hammies.
Your Snacks team is live at Nasdaq for the Peloton IPO today. We hydrated hard to interview the fitness tech's co-founder when the stock begins trading — tweet us some questions to ask him @RobinhoodSnacks.
Now back to our bikes.
Facebook unveils "Horizon": A huge virtual world
We were happy with air hockey... Facebook prefers virtual worlds. It just unveiled one through Oculus, the virtual reality startup it acquired in 2014 for $2B. Facebook offered up this charming video to entice you to enter the digital land of "Horizon" — a massive-multiplayer world to interact with anyone who can afford the $399 VR headset.
Picture Ready Player One without the violence... Your avatar (the digital version of you, like a 3D-ish emoji) enters Horizon around a central town square. Then you customize your virtual shirt, or build a virtual island to hang out on with your other real friends playing virtually. Meta. Here's what else surprised us:
- No coding: Don't need the skill set. Use your hands and building blocks to whip up an arena where you can play virtual soccer with real friends.
- No pants: For some reason, none of the avatars in Horizon have lower bodies.
- Yes, privacy/policing/enforcement: Facebook clearly focused on this one. You can mute people who bother you and create space boundaries. Plus, there are "Horizon Locals" — Avatar guides who are real people, dressed casually, cracking down on trolls.
Welcome to Facebook 2.0... Facebook acquired Instagram on the bet that users may head there when they were bored of the 'Book. They did. Now it's betting you'll hit up virtual reality when you're tired of reality. Here's the big question: Will Zuck introduce virtual billboards and stores to Horizon so it makes real ad money just like Facebook does?
Amazon challenges rivals with Alexa-infused everything (and a 1-mile-radius tech cloud)
So. Many. Connected. Gadgets... Another Alexa-palooza arrived yesterday from Amazon HQ in Seattle. Bezos & Co. whipped up 15 Alexa-fluent devices. Some totally new, some just improved:
- Echo Studio: A $199 smart speaker, challenging Apple HomePod and Sonos (the speaker icon's stock fell 5%).
- Amazon Sidewalk: Basically extends your wifi signal 1-mile for low connectivity devices, like a dog tag (aka "Echo Fetch").
- New voices: Samuel L. Jackson is voicing over Alexa, with more celebs to fill the airwaves (each costs $0.99).
Apple & Google have 1 advantage in the voice assistant wars... Smartphones — you've probably got Siri (iPhone) or Google Assistant (Android) in your pocket. Now you can take Alexa to-go:
- In the car: GM announced all models will support an Alexa app.
- In your ears: Echo Buds — The AirPod knockoffs are cheaper ($129), but don't look as sharp.
- On your face and on your finger: Echo Frames and Echo Loop let you ask Alexa questions and listen for her responses through glasses and a finger ring (these last two are so new they're available by invitation only).
Alexa's goal = make you 1% more Amazon... These devices might not make Amazon money at first. Long-term, Amazon's putting Alexa everywhere so you're that much more likely to be loyal to Amazon or even order through Alexa via voice (aka "v-commerce"). If the percent of your paycheck going to Amazon rises from 20% to 21% because of Alexa, that's a win.
What else we’re Snackin’
- Haters: Match is accused by the FTC of getting 400K singles to subscribe to the dating service by showing them fake love interests
- CEOut: Juul's CEO stepped down as more anti-vaping regulations hit (Massachusetts just temporarily banned their sales on health worries)
- Scoot: Uber, Lyft, and Ford were all permitted to add scooters to the streets of San Francisco — doubling the number of two-wheelers in the city
- Thoughts: JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon doesn't think a US/China trade deal will happen before the 2020 election
- Chew: Inspire Brands, the company that owns Arby's and Sonic, just added another chain to its plate: Jimmy Johns
Thursday
- Peloton's IPO @ Nasdaq (we'll be there live — follow @RobinhoodSnacks to catch the inside of it)
- Earnings from Rite Aid, Factset, and Micron
Disclosure: Authors of this Snacks own shares of Amazon
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