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Innovation

Amazon researchers develop complex voice recognition models that work offline

Via @VentureBeat Researchers at Amazon have developed sophisticated voice recognition models that work offline, without the need for an internet connection.

venturebeat.com • Share

The New York Times Bringing Its Content To Magic Leap One Creator Edition

HT @nycmedialab Ever since 2015, The New York Times has had a keen interest in immersive technology, from partnering with Google to produce virtual reality related works for the Google Cardboard, to NYTVR and them producing daily 360 degree videos for the Samsung Gear VR. And of course from there onto their work with augmented reality (AR), such as experiences relating to the 2018 Winter Olympics, the war in Syria, and the eruption of the Fuego volcano.

www.vrfocus.com • Share

Alibaba to Launch Taobao Buy, A New Mixed Reality Shopping Experience

HT @readwritelabs Taobao, Alibaba’s e-commerce subsidiary, will launch a brand new product this year called Taobao Buy. It is incorporated with mixed reality (MR) technology to bring consumers a futuristic shopping experience.

pandaily.com • Share

Technology

Agile Gone Wrong

Most people will agree that the adoption of agile is now mainstream. This adoption is rightfully so, as agile can be an excellent framework for building software. This being said, I’ve noticed a few common mistakes when product teams are adopting agile, most notably:

Focusing on velocity, with almost a disregard for quality
Only building, and forgetting about the measure and learn principles

productcoalition.com • Share

Call for Review: EPUB 3.2

We live in exciting times for the world of ebook standards, with the IDPF-W3C merger and web publications. Yet for most of us, the EPUB we create and consume has not changed in a while. EPUB 3.0 came out nearly seven years ago. The minor changes of EPUB 3.0.1 happened more than four years ago. EpubCheck hasn’t had a major release in nearly three years. That’s not necessarily a bad thing for mature specs. EPUB 3 works. It satisfies lots of use cases, and lots of actual users. Most publishers have existing tools and processes to create and distribute EPUB 3 (if you don’t, you should).

epubsecrets.com • Share

Snapchat expands Shoppable AR to its top creators

In late June, Snapchat opened native commerce to top creators like Kylie Jenner. Now, the platform is letting creators go beyond using “Shop now” buttons in their Stories and letting them use AR Lenses to do the same, starting with Nicki Minaj.

digiday.com • Share

Publishing

Measuring library zeitgeist in realtime

Via @BookNet_Canada Rakuten OverDrive’s real-time library check-out tool.

www.booknetcanada.ca • Share

Sale of Sports Illustrated to be done by the end of the year

HT @BoSacks During a quarterly earnings call, Meredith Corporation said it plans to complete its sale of Sports Illustrated by the end of December.

www.courier-journal.com • Share

Asian American Writers’ Workshop – Apply: The Margins Fellowship 2019

Four emerging Asian American writers of fiction, poetry, or creative nonfiction based in New York City aged 30 and under will receive $5,000, residency time at the Millay Colony for the Arts, mentorship, access to the AAWW writing space, and publication opportunities in online magazine The Margins.

aaww.org • Share

Stand-up star Helen Lederer launches prize for funny female authors

“Absolutely Fabulous” actress and stand-up comedian Helen Lederer is launching a new literary award in a bid to give female comic writing “the exposure and praise it deserves.” “There are countless hilarious, talented female writers currently producing great work. If existing prizes won’t honour funny women writers fairly, it’s time to set up a new prize.”

www.thebookseller.com • Share

Events

Audiobook Panel at WMG

Women’s Media Group is putting on a fantastic audiobook event w Ana Maria Allessi (HarperAudio), Beth Anderson (Audible), Amanda D’Acierno (Penguin Random House Audio), Mary Beth Roche (Macmillan Audio), moderated by Robin Whitten (AudioFile Magazine) – e-mail me at ksandler1@gmail.com to learn more

www.womensmediagroup.org • Share