Hello there, and welcome to another round of Global Roundup. This week’s edition features the iPhone 15 series launch and all that you should know, Starlink’s slow start to adoption, TikTok’s foray into e-commerce, and Bluesky’s latest milestone.
This week, Apple held its much-anticipated annual launch event at Apple Park and as usual, there were lots of new hardware and software unveiled. Some of which had been rumoured over the last months. However, for many, the iPhone 15 series launch was the highlight of the event. This roundup provides you with the major details of that launch and 4 key features missing from the iPhone 15 Pro.
Elon Musk’s Starlink is off to a slow start and has failed to live up to the grand expectations it set for itself and its investors. The satellite network ended the year with just 1.5 million subscribers and $1.4 billion in revenue from the 20 million subscribers and $12 billion it projected.
TikTok has expanded its e-commerce feature, the TikTok Shop to the United States, following its successful introduction in the UK. Users of the platform in the US can now buy stuff directly in the TikTok app.
Then, Bluesky has crossed the 1 million user mark. Rose Wang, a Bluesky employee, announced the feat on X with an image that displayed “1,000,055 users.
We will share details of these news items and more in this week’s global roundup. Here is a summary of the bulletin.
- 4 key features the iPhone 15 Pro is still missing
- SpaceX’s Starlink fall short of expectations
- TikTok launches Shop in the US
- Bluesky crosses the I million user mark
- Google cut hundreds of jobs in its global recruiting organisation
Read also:Apple to launch iPhone 15 series on September 13
4 key features the iPhone 15 Pro still misses
Apple held its annual launch event at Apple Park and as usual, there were lots of new hardware and software unveiled. Some of which had been rumoured over the last months. Among those products is the latest series of iPhones, the iPhone 15 series.
This was not a surprise as the whole world was expecting the iPhone 15 series. It is a tradition for the tech company to release a higher series almost every year. But this year, we saw some really unique features including impressive lines of pastel colors (Pink, Yellow, Green, Blue, and Black).
Apart from its beautiful pastel colour that enhances its natural beauty, the display quality is excellent. The Retina XDR display on iPhone 15 reaches 1600 nits (with a peak brightness of 2000 nits), at daytime. Also, the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus have access to Dynamic Island. You can learn more about everything launched here.
In all, this year’s iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max didn’t deliver on everything. For a Pro-level device that costs that much, there are still a few things where Apple could make key improvements. One is its battery life.
The biggest disappointment for this year’s Pro phones is that Apple didn’t use any of the additional capabilities of the new A17 Pro chip to increase battery life. Instead, it spent all of the extra oomph from the A17 Pro to power up additional gaming features.
Another is the Touch ID on the power button. Another one of the best quality-of-life features that Apple could add to its Pro phones is to integrate a Touch ID fingerprint scanner into the power button — just like the one it already has on the iPad Air (5th Generation). Read more here.
SpaceX’s Starlink fall short of expectations
SpaceX’s Starlink division has failed to live up to the grand expectations it set for itself and investors, according to a recent Wall Street Journal report. The report reveals that Starlink, which was touted to reach 20 million subscribers and generate nearly $12 billion in revenue by 2022, ended the year with just 1.5 million subscribers and $1.4 billion in revenue.
The revelation comes from a 2015 presentation used by SpaceX to attract investors, which projected ambitious growth for the satellite internet service. However, reality has fallen far short of these projections, highlighting the challenges of building a global satellite network.
“Starlink hasn’t signed up customers as quickly as SpaceX had hoped,” the WSJ wrote. “Toward the end of last year, Starlink had more than one million active subscribers, SpaceX has said. The company thought its satellite-Internet business would have 20 million subscribers as 2022 closed out, according to SpaceX’s 2015 presentation.”
Starlink’s slow customer adoption appears to be a significant factor contributing to its underperformance. While the company claimed to have “well over” 1.5 million customers worldwide, it’s evident that it faced difficulties in achieving its initial goals. The report points out that in regions with access to cheaper, readily available high-speed broadband, its appeal is limited. Read more here.
TikTok launches Shop in the US
The popular short-form video platform, TikTok is making a significant foray into e-commerce with the launch of TikTok Shop in the United States, following its successful introduction in the UK. Users of the platform in the US can now buy stuff directly in the TikTok app.
The move holds the potential to reshape the e-commerce landscape not only in the US but also in countries like Nigeria, where online shopping and digital commerce are experiencing rapid growth.
With the online marketplace integrated into the TikTok app, users can purchase products directly from videos posted by brands and creators. When users search for products or watch videos, a dedicated “Shop” tab and a “Shop” button within videos provide quick access to related items.
Along with the marketplace, TikTok is also introducing a new affiliate program that will let creators get commissions on products they sell in both videos and livestreams without needing to work out deals outside of TikTok itself. The program is meant to incentivise creators to engage more actively in e-commerce, potentially leading to a surge in product endorsements.
Coupled with all this, TikTok now has its own fulfilment centres, so products can be stored and shipped by the company itself, just like Amazon.
Bluesky crosses the I million user mark
Bluesky, a relatively new social media site with an exclusive membership policy, has crossed the 1 million user mark. Rose Wang, a Bluesky employee, announced the feat on X (Twitter) with an image that displayed “1,000,055 users). Interestingly, the announcement post was made on X, a major rival.
Some hours before breaking the news, Wang teased her followers with a post. “The other app that’s similar to this one is going to hit 1M users today,” she wrote. For an average social media site, hitting a million users is not much to celebrate, but Bluesky’s case is different.
Unlike regular social media platforms, anyone can download the Bluesky mobile app but access to the site is only extended when the user provides an invite code. Despite being an exclusive platform, the demand for access has constantly grown. In May this year, a report detailed how invite codes sold for between $120 and $6,900.
Former Twitter (now X) owner Jack Dorsey created the idea of Bluesky. As such, it is no surprise that the platform’s interface closely resembles X’s. Like X’s user interface, Dorsey’s new site’s interface features algorithmic choice, a federated design, and community-specific moderation.
Google cut hundreds of jobs
Google is cutting hundreds of jobs in its global recruiting organization as part of a broader pullback in hiring over the next several quarters. “We unfortunately need to make a significant reduction to the size of the recruiting organization,” Brian Ong, Google’s recruiting vice president, told employees in a Wednesday video meeting.
“It’s not something that was an easy decision to make, and it isn’t a conversation any of us wanted to have again this year,” Ong said. “Given the base of hiring that we’ve received the next several quarters, it’s the right thing to do overall.”
Employees involved in the recruiting group reductions will receive emails starting Wednesday, Ong said.
Ong also said that employees hit in the latest layoffs will retain access to offices this week and online systems for longer. Employees had previously criticized the company for abruptly cutting off access to those who lost their jobs in January.
Courtenay Mencini, a Google spokesperson, confirmed the cuts in an email to CNBC.
“We continue to invest in top engineering and technical talent while also meaningfully slowing the pace of our overall hiring,” Mencini wrote. “In line with this, the volume of requests for our recruiters has gone down. In order to continue our important work to ensure we operate efficiently, we’ve made the hard decision to reduce the size of our recruiting team.”
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